The legislation, passed in its third reading by Estonia’s Parliament on April 9, requires the Church and Pükhtitsa Monastery to sever their canonical ties with the Russian Church, affecting an estimated 250,000 Estonian citizens.
The Riigikogu, Estonian Parliament, has adopted the law aimed at banning the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church.
Fr. Dmitry, who comes from Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, has served in Norway since 2006, as a choir director, deacon and priest. He was appointed rector of the Holy Theophany Church in August 2007.
The hierarch from Crete, which is under the Patriarchate of Constantinople, is the fourth Greek hierarch to repose in the past month.
Some are already calling Ilyas Safovich Safiullin a martyr, especially considering that he converted to Orthodoxy from Islam eight years ago.