Tallinn, Estonia, December 15, 2017
Photo: Blagovest-Info The actively-participating churches of the Estonian Council of Churches (ECC) has adopted a resolution on the necessity of introducing a definition of marriage into the constitution as the union of a man and a woman, reports Blagovest-Info.
Among the member churches is the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The ECC decided at a local session that it considers it necessary to introduce into the national constitution a definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, according to the council’s Executive Secretary Ruudi Leinus. He also stated that the council will begin preparations for the constitutional amendment, but could not say when the proposal would go to the Riigikogu, the unicameral Estonian parliament.
“The council only made a principal decision on Thursday,” Leinus stated.
On November 30, Archbishop Urmas Viilma of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church spoke in church about the need to introduce into the constitution an addition that would clearly interpret marriage as a union concluded only between a man and a woman.
Viilma’s proposal was approved by the Isamaa and Res Publica Unions, the Estonian Conservative People’s Party, and the Trust Fund for the Protection of Family and Tradition. It has been opposed by the Social Democratic Party, the Centrist Party, the Reform Party, and the Free Party.
Viilma also noted that if the constitution were to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, it would also allow for the regulation of special laws regarding other manners of cohabitation.
Estonia does not recognize same-sex unions at this time, although in January, a same-sex couple, who had been married in Sweden, were entered into Estonia’s population register by court order for the first time ever.
