Tallinn Set to Demand Moscow Church in Estonia Break All Ties with ROC MP or Face Liquidation

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Jan. 8 – The Estonian interior ministry says Tallinn is preparing a new law for consideration next month that will require the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate break all ties within two months with the ROC MP or face liquidation by court action.
     The law will be cast as a ban on the activity in Estonia of any church which is connected with organizations which support military aggression and the use of force, as the Moscow Patriarchate does in Ukraine (rus.err.ee/1609570477/mvd-trebuet-ot-jepc-mp-razorvat-svjazi-s-rossijskimi-cerkovnymi-vlastjami).
    The Russian church in Estonia has already dropped the reference to the Moscow Patriarchate in its name and says it acts independently, but its leaders insist that they do not have the unilateral right to end canonical ties with the ROC MP (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/04/estonian-orthodox-church-of-moscow.html  and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2024/09/dropping-reference-to-moscow.html).
    Given that the ROC MP almost certainly will not agree to end its canonical relationship with the EOC, this new Estonian law likely means that Tallinn will move to ban the EOC in Estonia and hope to include the Orthodox in that country in the Estonian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (EAOC).
    Some parishioners of the EOC will likely change their membership, but others are certain to go underground, setting the stage for an extension well into the future of conflict over religious affiliations in Estonia.