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In Estonia amendments to the Churches and Congregations Act may soon lead to a severing of ties to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church. The points of separation are not theological but political. Said amendments stipulate that Estonian religious organizations must never have subordinate relationships to non-Estonian institutions which “justify or support war, aggression or terrorism.” This seems to be a veiled, or not so veiled, reference to the Moscow Patriarchate’s seeming support for military operations in Ukraine.
As the existing relationship of the Estonian Orthodox Church is posited by government officials in Estonia as being “subordinate” to the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church, all ties must be severed. While it is unclear to many if such “subordination” actually exists or if the notion of the Moscow Patriarchate’s imprimatur of “justification” of military intervention by Russia is objectively valid, it is clearly the position of the Interior Minister Igor Taro.
Taro underscores that Orthodoxy per se is not being banned. Neither will monasteries or churches be closed. The Interior Ministry is prohibited from arbitrarily proclaiming dissolution of any particular religious organization, and only an appropriate court could do so. There will be a period of six months for religious associations to update statues and comply with the new edict. Ringo Ringvee, a ministry adviser, promises to assist all groups with potential ties to an aggressor state and projects that Russian authorities may claim falsely that Estonia is arbitrarily closing churches. In the meantime Bishop Daniel of the Estonian Orthodox Church highlights that such paradigm shifts are not to be made hastily and promises to wait for guidance from the Interior Ministry. Other voices from the Interior Ministry reiterate that the current edict asks for churches to voluntarily cut ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, and that “dissolution” would be a very extreme and last resort. Since regaining independence, Estonia has never forcibly dissolved an organization on security grounds.
For further reading: https://news.err.ee/1610049814/minister-says-orthodox-church-must-cut-ties-with-moscow-after-high-court-ruling
2 comments
The Russian Orthodox Church has always been an instrument of the Kremlin!
One wouldn’t be surprised given the majority of Russians are Orthodox, and unapologetically so. In a sense, the Estonian government is making the Estonian Orthodox Church an instrument of ITS own will. Although the Estonian Lutheran Church is perhaps the largest denomination, the Orthodox Church is growing in followers, surely among ethnic Russians in Estonia. A quick search of Estonia’s religious makeup produced an interesting result: only 12%-14% of Estonians see “religion” as an important part of their lives, with regular attendance even lower.