Autocephaly: Latvian state demands it, Estonian Church uninterested in it

Riga, October 17, 2022

Met. Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia. Photo: bb.lv Met. Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia. Photo: bb.lv     

The Churches within the former Soviet Republics largely remain within the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Several states have expressed serious concern about these ecclesiastical ties, especially since the start of the war in Ukraine.

On September 8, the Saeima, the Latvian Parliament, declared the Latvian Orthodox Church, an autonomous Church within the Moscow Patriarchate, to be “autocephalous,” completely independent “from any Church power outside of Latvia”—a move which the Church seems to have accepted.

It was later reported that the Latvian Cabinet of Ministers had authorized Minister of Justice Jānis Bordāns to appeal to His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia on behalf of the state with a request to issue a tomos of autocephaly to the Latvian Church.

According to a report from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday, this request has been received by Pat. Kirill.

The Russian Church has yet to formally respond to the request, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses its outrage:

With enviable persistence, the Latvian authorities continue to shamelessly push the line for further interference in the affairs of the Latvian Orthodox Church… In fact, the Latvian leaders, hiding behind concerns for democracy and Orthodoxy, are trying everything they can to squeeze everything Russian out of their country. Here we have hypocrisy, literal illiteracy, political inconsistency…

The Ministry calls on Latvia to cease interfering in the relationship of Churches, but to deal with the state’s own internal problems.

Meanwhile, in Estonia, His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn says in a recent interview that despite some disagreements with Pat. Kirill and the Moscow Patriarchate, the Estonian Church has no intention of asking for autocephaly.

The Estonian Church has come under state scrutiny lately following a homily in which Pat. Kirill said that those who die in battle receive forgiveness of sins. The state called on Met. Evgeny to publicly distance himself from such statements, threatening that his residency permit could be canceled if any pro-war statements or activities would be found coming from the Church.

In response, the Estonian primate stated last week: “I do not share the words of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill, pronounced by him in a sermon on 09.25.2022, about the absolution of all sins to soldiers who die while fulfilling their military duty.”

Two days later, he spoke about recent events in an interview with the Estonian outlet err.ee. Speaking to the possibility of Estonian Church autocephaly, Met. Evgeny said:

Yes, there was a council in Ukraine that decided on independence. But in Latvia, the Church remained in the same situation it was in. And the fact that the state has declared autocephaly, using a completely ecclesiastical term, doesn’t really mean anything. Autocephaly is a Church issue that’s solved in a different way.

But it’s important to say that the Churches in both Latvia and Estonia are still completely independent in their governance—Church-administrative, Church-economic. No dues are paid to the center, and no assistance comes from the center. The connection is only of the Church-canonical order. That’s all. Therefore, you’re probably hinting at some possible autocephaly. No, there’s no question about that, and there won’t be in the near future. Because it’s necessary to meet the parameters of an autocephalous Church. Our Church in Estonia doesn’t meet these parameters.

And responding to the Patriarch’s words about forgiveness of sins for fallen soldiers, Met. Evgeny said:

I don’t regard this as a direct call to war. I regard this as a kind of concern for people so that they don’t lose their humanity in this most difficult situation in which they find themselves, that is, in conditions of war. These words that caused such a stir needed to be explained more carefully. But since there was no explanation, I stated that I didn’t agree with such a formulation of the issue and don’t share the words of the Patriarch.

Met. Evgeny also argued that the Patriarch has repeatedly said that the war is evil, but the Church can’t just stand aside, but must work with military personnel to maintain their humanity.

“And priests are working on both sides of the front. Therefore, I wouldn’t say that in this case the Patriarch acts as a ‘party of war.’”

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10/17/2022

See also
Metropolitan of Estonia distances himself from Patriarch’s homily about forgiveness of sins for soldiers Metropolitan of Estonia distances himself from Patriarch’s homily about forgiveness of sins for soldiers Metropolitan of Estonia distances himself from Patriarch’s homily about forgiveness of sins for soldiers Metropolitan of Estonia distances himself from Patriarch’s homily about forgiveness of sins for soldiers
His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia also reminds of the several calls for peace that have already come from the EOC Synod and hierarchs and of all the humanitarian work undertaken by EOC churches and parishioners to help Ukrainian refugees. Political party calls to ban Estonian Orthodox Church and transfer its property to Constantinople’s jurisdiction Political party calls to ban Estonian Orthodox Church and transfer its property to Constantinople’s jurisdiction Political party calls to ban Estonian Orthodox Church and transfer its property to Constantinople’s jurisdiction Political party calls to ban Estonian Orthodox Church and transfer its property to Constantinople’s jurisdiction
Members of the Isamaa (Fatherland) political party in Estonia are calling for a ban on the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Estonian state closely monitoring Orthodox Church Estonian state closely monitoring Orthodox Church Estonian state closely monitoring Orthodox Church Estonian state closely monitoring Orthodox Church
If the Estonian Church, which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate, should make any statements calling for war, the state could cancel the residence permit of His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn. Latvia: fate of non-Latvian clergy is open question after state-declared Church independence Latvia: fate of non-Latvian clergy is open question after state-declared Church independence Latvia: fate of non-Latvian clergy is open question after state-declared Church independence Latvia: fate of non-Latvian clergy is open question after state-declared Church independence
A number of pressing issues were discussed by representatives of the Latvian Orthodox Church and the Latvian state yesterday. Latvian Church accepts its “autocephalous” status from gov’t Latvian Church accepts its “autocephalous” status from gov’t Latvian Church accepts its “autocephalous” status from gov’t Latvian Church accepts its “autocephalous” status from gov’t
“The state has established the status of our Church as autocephalous. The state has determined that the Latvian Orthodox Church is legally independent from any Church center located outside Latvia.” Latvian Parliament declares Church separate from Moscow Patriarchate Latvian Parliament declares Church separate from Moscow Patriarchate Latvian Parliament declares Church separate from Moscow Patriarchate Latvian Parliament declares Church separate from Moscow Patriarchate
In the eyes of the Latvian government, the Latvian Orthodox Church is now completely independent and separate from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Comments
Editor10/18/2022 11:36 am
Raoul Tuul: Thank you for your feedback. However, the article does not actually imply that Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are all one state. Of course we know that they are not. It is simply stating and comparing the situations that have recently developed in the various Baltic states concerning autocephaly.
Raoul Tuul10/18/2022 1:44 am
Thank you for the article. As an Estonian born in another nation - i wish to object to the uae of the term ‘state’. Estonia and Latvia ( and Lithuania) are independent nations just as independent as the USA or France
Michael10/17/2022 11:33 pm
Regarding the words of Patriarch Kirill, it's important to note that he did not say anything about RUSSIAN soldiers in particular or soldiers fighting for Russia. He did not say "soldiers who die in battle on the Russian side of a war receive forgiveness of sins". He said soldiers who die in the line of duty. He was speaking of soldiers in general, on both sides of the current war, especially since in the same homily he called the war a war between brothers. Now, that's still a problematic thing to say - surely not all soldiers who do their duty receive forgiveness of sins! - but in any case it certainly wasn't a "call to war". He was condemning the war, not supporting it, while trying to comfort the families of soldiers about the fate of their loved ones. The fact that it got deliberately misinterpreted as a pro-war statement by the Western media is just a testament to the media's moral bankruptcy.
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