His Holiness the Patriarch speaking on the problems of Orthodoxy in Estonia
6.03.2001 · English, Архив 2001
HIS HOLINESS THE PATRIARCH SPEAKING ON THE PROBLEMS OF ORTHODOXY IN ESTONIA
To comply with requests from the mass media, the Communications Service of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate cites below His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia on setlting the status of the Orthodox parishes of the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople in Estonia.
During the press conference on March 4 at the Greek embassy, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church gave positive assessment to the negotiations conducted by the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople. The negotiations took place on February 19 in Berlin. Participating in them from the Moscow Patriarchate were Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, chairman of Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, and Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, DECR acting secretary for inter-Orthodox relations. The Patriarchate of Constantinople was represented by Metropolitan John of Pergamon and Metropolitan Meliton of Philadelphia, general secretary of the Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Constantinople.
Speaking about the agreements reached in Berlin, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy noted in particular that “the recent meeting between delegations of the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople has already produced concrete results in settling the problem of the parishes located in the territory of Estonia. I think this is the way to solve the complex problem that exists in Estonia. I believe that all the issues that arise in relations between the two Patriarchates should be settled through dialogue.
On March 6 at St. Daniel’s monastery, His Holiness Patriarch Alexy met with representatives of Russian communities in the CIS and Baltic countries. In the course of the meeting, Ye. A. Tomberg of the Estonian parliament and Yu. A. Mishin, chairman of the Estonian Republican Union of Russian Citizens, expressed concern for the destiny of Orthodoxy in Estonia. The Estonian delegates said that the Russian communities succeeded in having the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Tallinn transferred to our Church for free use, but the property problems experienced by many of our Orthodox parishes in Estonia have not been settled to this day.
In his response His Holiness stated that the attempts to create “independent” structures in Estonia and Ukraine are essentially political actions aimed at destroying links between people of the same faith, culture, tradition and historical life.
Speaking about the situation in Estonia, the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that “the Estonian Government is prepared to register the parishes of the Moscow Patriarchate in Estonia as “newly established” ones without the right to own property which has historically belonged to them”.According to His Holiness, “the process of registration should go parallel with the conclusion of a bilateral agreement between the Patriarchates of Moscow and Constantinople, which defines the property rights of parishes under each of the two jurisdictions.” “We hope, he said, “that the metropolitans of the two jurisdictions will sign an agreement and that the church structure under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople will abandon its claims on the property of the parishes of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate”.
See also: