The denial in registration to the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate holds back the betterment of the Russian-Estonian relations
8.05.2001 · English, Архив 2001
THE DENIAL IN REGISTRATION TO THE ESTONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE HOLDS BACK THE BETTERMENT OF THE RUSSIAN-ESTONIAN RELATIONS
A Russian diplomat’s point of view
In his comments to the ‘Interfax’ agency on the recent speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia Mr.T.Ilves in the Parliament, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Estonian Republic K.K.Provalov noted that the outlined normalization in the Russian-Estonian relations is largely impeded the unsolved problem of the registration of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.
‘Though the Church in Estonia and in Russia is separated from the state, the problem is of humanitarian nature, – emphasized the Ambassador. – It concerns tens of thousands of the Russian-speaking inhabitants of Estonia and worries millions of Orthodox Christians in Russia and the Moscow Patriarchate, and we must bear it in mind.’
A week earlier Mr.K.K.Provalov noted in his answers to the readers of the ‘Estonia’ newspaper that the letter from the Minister of Internal Affairs of Estonia Mr.T.Loodus to Metropolitan Cornelius of Tallinn and Estonia ‘has actually negated a possibility of registration of the Church, which is one of the largest confessions’.
‘This problem largely determines the atmosphere of our relations. To my great regret, – said the Russian Ambassador, – in spite of many efforts and of the statements of the authorities, including the top level, the registration has come to a standstill’. The Ambassador of Russia in Estonia said that many fellow believers in Russia kept up with the destiny of Orthodox believers in Estonia with deep anxiety and expressed his hope that the Estonian leadership would be wise enough to solve this ‘painful problem’.
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