Moscow, May 21, 2025
Photo: patriarchia.ru
The Russian Orthodox Church is being persecuted by anti-Russian forces in certain Eastern European countries, the primate of the Church said at a recent event.
Speaking at a Paschal reception at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, May 20, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia stated that programs of “persecution of our Church, which were initiated by anti-Russian forces in Western countries, are currently being attempted to be implemented, in addition to Ukraine, in Moldova and the Baltic states, especially in Estonia.”
The Patriarch first spoke about the plight of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which is facing the most severe state persecution. He noted that the situation has recently deteriorated even further, as the authorities begin to investigate religious communities for signs of affiliation with the Russian Orthodox Church. The Ukrainian Church amended its statutes and withdrew from the Moscow Patriarchate in May 2022, though the Ukrainian state subordinates itself on this matter to the view of the Russian Church, which has not recognized the decision of the UOC.
His Holiness emphasized that the Kiev authorities have invested considerable funds on propaganda in Europe and the U.S. to justify the banning of the UOC.
And amongst the Baltic states, the situation is worst in Estonia, the Patriarch said, recalling that the Parliament adopted amendments to a law banning the Moscow Patriarchate there. Though the President rejected the legislation because it contradicts the Estonian constitution, “the threat of its adoption with minor amendments remains,” His Holiness warned.
And speaking of the history of Orthodoxy in Estonia, he continued:
And where does Orthodoxy in Estonia come from? Not from China or Paris. It is Russian Orthodoxy, and generation after generation, Orthodox people were raised in this value system…
And now, before the eyes of all Europe, not some recently appeared dubious religious community, but a community to which for centuries a significant part, and at some points in history, the majority of those who lived in Estonia belonged, is being subjected to attempts to erase it from the map of the spiritual and cultural life of the country. By adopting amendments to the Law on Churches and Parishes, outlawing the structures of the Moscow Patriarchate, the Estonian authorities hope to force Orthodox believers to transfer to the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.
Pat. Kirill also warned that in Lithuania, the authorities continue to prepare for the implementation of the Estonian scenario.
There, state authorities cooperated with the Patriarchate of Constantinople to establish a parallel jurisdiction, consisting mainly of suspended and defrocked clergy. Meanwhile, in December 2022, the Lithuanian Church, which has explicitly condemned the war at every level of its administration, requested the Patriarchate to grant it greater Church independence, though the issue is as yet unresolved.
And in Latvia, the parliament proclaimed the legal autocephaly of the Orthodox Church without much deliberation, His Holiness added.
In September 2022, the Latvian Parliament adopted a bill declaring the Latvian Church, at least legally, independent of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Latvian Church accepted this decision, and in response to state demands, a council of the Latvian Church held in October amended its statutes to reflect the earlier governmental decision. In August 2023, the Latvian hierarchs consecrated a new bishop without the blessing of Pat. Kirill and the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate. However, that October, they received Chrism from the Patriarch, which is a sign of canonical subordination.
In Moldova, against the background of the authorities’ patronage of the Bessarabian Metropolis of the Romanian Orthodox Church, political pressure on the hierarchs of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Orthodox Church of Moldova has intensified, the Patriarch said.
He recalled that on Holy Thursday, authorities arbitrarily prevented a Moldovan hierarch from flying to Jerusalem to retrieve the Holy Fire. Clergymen are demonstratively subjected to humiliating searches and interrogations when crossing the state border, the Patriarch said.
“The manifestations of gross discrimination faced by our believers await an adequate reaction and fair assessment from the international community,” Pat. Kirill concluded.
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