There are no obstacles at all for the admission of African laity to the Russian Orthodox Church. But when it comes to clergy, the question may arise, since according to the canons the cleric depends on his ruling bishop. And in an ordinary situation, without a letter of leave from his bishop, he cannot go anywhere. But what if the bishop entered into communion with the schismatics? Priest Georgy Maksimov, a teacher at the Moscow Theological Academy, writes about this.

“This situation is unusual, but it is exactly what happened in Africa. Let me remind you that the holy fathers unanimously teach about the impossibility of salvation in schism and that schism is a falling away from the Church and a path to destruction.

So the split is by no means a trifle and not just an administrative dispute, as Patriarch Theodore is trying to present it now in communication with African clerics. The split is a direct path to hell. And if we go to the canons of the Church, then the second rule of the Council of Antioch reads:

“May it not be allowed to have communion with those who have been excommunicated, nor to come to homes and pray with those outside the communion of the church: not to accept those who are alienated from one church in another church. If any of the bishops, or presbyters, or deacons, or any of the clergy, turns out to be communicating with those excommunicated from communion: let him himself be outside the communion of the Church. ”

According to this rule, entering into communion with schismatics exposes the person who has entered into excommunication from church communion, that is, he finds himself in the same position in relation to the Church as the schismatic with whom he entered into communion. This, I emphasize, is not about any canonical violation, but about what leads a person out of the Church and deprives him of the hope of salvation – and this only applies to heresy and schism.

In the opinion of those who ask the questions discussed here, the cleric can supposedly leave his bishop aside only because of heresy. And even in the event of a threat of a split, he supposedly should not leave him. However, it would be difficult for me to call such a position an appropriate Orthodox ecclesiology, ”the priest writes.