Today, Africa has become one of the centers of persecution of Christians, said Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, speaking at a press conference held on February 4, 2022 at the Rossiya Segodnya news agency.

He recalled that according to the human rights organization Open Doors, every fifth Christian on this continent is persecuted, and every year thousands of African Christians lose their lives for their faith in Jesus Christ.

“The Russian Orthodox Church considers countering persecution on religious grounds as one of its main tasks in the international arena and for many years has been supporting persecuted Christians in different regions of the world, including Africa,” the DECR chairman stated.