The Holy Synod of the Alexandrian Patriarchate has decided to initiate the removal from the primatial ministry of the acting Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, Bishop Konstantin of Zaraysk, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency. According to the agency, the Synod of the Alexandrian Patriarchate has accused Bishop Konstantin of "usurping the jurisdiction of the ancient throne, consecrating antimensia, bribing the clergy, even the deposed, factionalism, ethno-Phyletism, and more."

The Synod's decision marks the second deposition of an "exarch in Africa" since, on November 22, 2022, the Holy Synod of the Alexandrian Patriarchate also removed the primatial ministry from the first exarch in Africa of the Moscow Patriarchate, the former Metropolitan of Klin, the agency adds.

In response to this decision by the Alexandrian Synod, Bishop Konstantin stated to journalists that he submits to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia as his vicar and the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

It is worth noting that the Russian Orthodox Church severed canonical ties with the Alexandrian Patriarchate in 2019 after the Patriarch of Alexandria recognized the non-canonical Orthodox Church of Ukraine in December 2018.

The Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa was established in December 2021 by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The resolution clarified that this was done due to the departure into schism by Patriarch Theodore of Alexandria, his commemoration at the liturgy of the head of the schismatic Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Epiphanius Dumenko, and joint service with him. Following this, a whole list of priests from Africa appealed to the Russian Orthodox Church, asking to be accepted into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.

Bishop Konstantin of Zaraysk (Ostrovsky) has been leading the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa since October 2023. He succeeded Metropolitan Leonid of Klin in this position.