The Patriarchal Exarch of Africa, Metropolitan Konstantin of Cairo and North Africa, has paid an official visit to the Republic of Seychelles, where he celebrated the first-ever hierarchical Divine Liturgy of the Russian Orthodox tradition in the country’s capital, Victoria.

The service took place on the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord and the commemoration day of St. Basil the Great. According to the website of the African Exarchate, this marked the first visit by an Orthodox bishop to the Seychelles that included the celebration of the Divine Liturgy.

Although Orthodox Christianity has been present in the Seychelles for many years, services have previously been conducted only occasionally. Clergy have traveled to the islands at Christmas and Easter at the invitation of church leadership to serve the local Orthodox community.

Metropolitan Konstantin was concelebrated during the Liturgy by Father Vasily Beletsky, a cleric of the Kursk Diocese. Earlier, on the night of Christmas, Father Beletsky had already celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Victoria with the blessing of Metropolitan Konstantin and in coordination with Metropolitan German of Kursk and Rylsk.

Among those attending the service were the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Seychelles, Artem Kozhin, Consul Alexander Mamin, members of the diplomatic mission, Russian compatriots living in the country, and tourists. Special prayers for Holy Rus’ were offered during the augmented litany.

Following the reading of the Gospel, the church announced the Christmas messages of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ and Metropolitan Konstantin, Patriarchal Exarch of Africa. A service of the blessing of water was held at the conclusion of the liturgy.

The Seychelles is an island nation in the Indian Ocean with a population of fewer than 100,000 people, where Christianity is predominantly represented by Catholic and Anglican traditions. At the same time, the local Orthodox community has been seeking to build its own church. This initiative was supported by the Seychellois authorities as early as 2012 and is viewed as part of the development of cultural and humanitarian ties with Russia.