The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church has expanded the sphere of pastoral responsibility to states such as East Timor and Papua New Guinea. At a meeting last Tuesday, the Synod decided to include these countries in the Singapore Diocese of the Asian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, which was established at the end of 2018 in response to the actions of Constantinople in Ukraine. Thus, the mission of the ROC among the Papuans will be an echo of the events in Ukraine that began two years ago.. Before that, it was tacitly believed in the Orthodox world that the Patriarchate of Constantinople had the right to take care of all Orthodox in the diaspora.. Both oceanic countries, where the ROC plans to develop its activities from now on, have not yet become an object of interest for Orthodox missionaries.. Thus, East Timor is one of the two Catholic countries in Asia (along with the Philippines). Catholics make up about 98% of the population here, Protestants - 1%, Muslims - 1%. The vast majority of the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea also consider themselves adherents of Christianity: according to the 2000 census, this is 96% of the inhabitants, among whom about a quarter are Catholics, a fifth are Lutherans, there are also some Adventists, Pentecostals, Anglicans. However, many Papuans combine the Christian faith with the traditional beliefs of indigenous peoples.. Earlier, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and the Philippines were included in the Asian exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church..