Tallinn has Given Russian Church in Estonia Six Months to Appoint a New Metropolitan and Sever All Ties with Moscow

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 7 – The Estonian interior ministry has sent a letter to all religious associations in that Baltic country that they have until December 28 to bring their groups into compliance with a law that prohibits such organizations from being subordinate to religious groups in a foreign country or face the prospect of dissolution.

            In five of the six cases, the letter is pro forma as they are already in compliance; but it raises the stakes regarding the future of the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church as the EOC of the Moscow Patriarchate has renamed itself (news.err.ee/1610071837/estonia-gives-orthodox-church-6-months-to-choose-between-god-and-the-kremlin).

            The EOCC faces two challenges in bringing itself into compliance with Estonian law: It must dismiss those on its governing board whose Estonian residence permits were not extended in the last 10 years and removing all references to the Moscow Patriarchate in the basic documents governing the operation of the Estonian church.

            The first will be difficult given that the EOCC’s metropolitan who was required to leave Estonia two years ago after losing his residence permit still serves on the governing board of the church. But the second will be even more difficult because the denomination insists that its governing document makes the ROC MP that makes it the supervisor of the Estonian Orthodox.

            Priit Rohtmets, a Tartu professor church history, says that while the EOCC will likely seek to reduce the role of the Moscow Patriarchate in governing its life, it is uncertain whether it will be able to eliminate all references to the ROC MP in its basic documents. That sets the stage for a crisis in relations between Tallinn and Moscow later this year. 

            That is especially unlikely, he says, because the ROC MP is almost certainly going to be willing “to let the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church. Even if, from the perspective of the church here, such a move would be justified and well-founded, Moscow likely still has an interest in preserving the existing church structure and its influence over the church in Estonia.”