The Jubilee Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

THE JUBILEE COUNCIL OF THE ESTONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE

The Jubilee Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate took place on June 27 in Tallinn. It was planned to coincide with the celebrations devoted to the Bimillennium of the Nativity of Christ.

The Council resolved that the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate be registered as legal successor of a single church structure which was legally designated in 1935 as the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church.

If the Estonian state bodies register the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as legal successor of the historical Orthodox heritage in Estonia then this may make a beginning of the settlement of the 7-year-long church conflict in Estonia.

The Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church consisting of representatives of the Orthodox parishes in Estonia under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate adopted an Appeal, the full text of which is given below.

Appeal by the Council
of the Estonian Orthodox Church
of the Moscow Patriarchate
June 27, 2000

We, members of the Council — clergy and laity of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, meeting under the chairmanship of Archbishop Cornilius of Tallinn and All Estonia in the jubilee year of the witness before the world to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God who came to the world 2000 years ago and is dwelling with us to this day and sanctifying the world through His Holy Church, worshipping God the Creator, lift up our thanks to Him for having sent us the Divine Love which «was made manifest among us in that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him» (1 Jn. 4:9).

Confessing the way of Christian salvation and cherishing the Tradition of the Orthodox Church, we call upon ourselves and all the faithful to follow in soberness the commandment of the Saviour: «Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand» (Mt. 4:17).

Performing her service in the world around her, the Church cannot but be concerned also for the external conditions for her legitimate work in her Fatherland. With all the responsibility we declare that being in the canonical jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, we are conscious of ourselves as members of the Local Estonian Church to which the Russian Orthodox Mother Church granted autonomy in 1993 by the thomos of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia, our Estonian compatriot.

Despite the division that occurred in the Estonian Orthodoxy in 1993, our Church has invariably continued her statute work also after the mutual delimitation that was effected in September 1996 by agreement between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople. The parishes which have preserved canonical faithfulness to the Moscow Patriarchate are successors of the single church structure which was legally designated in 1935 as Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church».

We consider our efforts to restore the civil rights of the parishes of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the church property which has historically belonged to them to be fair and well-grounded. With the above-stated purpose and the invariable intent to respect the law, we appeal to the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Estonia to re-register the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate as legal structure on the basis of the Statute of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate adopted by this Council.

Invoking inexhaustible blessings of God upon the Church and all people of good will, we lift up prayers to the Almighty God for peace and prosperity of the Estonian homeland.

Cornilius, Archbihsop of Tallinn and All Estonia.

Member of the Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church the Moscow Patriarchate.