Deputies discuss the situation of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate

DEPUTIES DISCUSS THE SITUATION OF THE ESTONIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF THE MOSCOW PATRIARCHATE

On 29-30 April 2002, Dmitry Rogozin, Chairman of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs, visited Estonia at the head of a parliamentary delegation. During the visit he discussed with Estonian Parliament deputies the implications of the recent registration of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP).

The Youth of Estonia newspaper quoted Mr. Rogozin as saying that the registration “marked the willingness of the Estonian government to cooperate with Russia”. At the same time, he expressed his confidence that now the Estonian side should make the next step and acknowledge that both EOC MP and the earlier registered church structure under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople possessed equal property rights, the BNS agency reported.

The head of the Russian delegation reminded that the present problems in Estonia with regard to relations between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Patriarchate of Constantinople have been caused largely by the policy of the previous government which had refused to register EOC MP. In this connection he pointed to the fact of state interference in internal church affairs manifested in “the message of Lennart Meri and Mart Laar directly to the Patriarch of Constantinople with a request that the Patriarchate of Constantinople should recognize Estonia as a territory under its jurisdiction.” Mr. Rogozin believes that “only the Estonian government can be the intermediary today, because it was responsible for initiating the situation to a certain extent. Surely, it must conduct the discussion very subtly and delicately.”

Commenting the discussions for the Estonia newspaper, Victor Andreyev, chairman of the United People’s Party of Estonia parliamentary faction, stated the unanimity of both parties, saying that “it was only the first stage in the settlement of the conflict. The registered Statute does not determine the ownership right. It only determines the status of EOC MP as a legal entity. Therefore, the meeting with Mr. Rogozin was devoted to possibilities of beginning a second stage of reconciliation, which is the regulation of the dispute over property, and to the role of Estonian deputies, which is also of a great importance in this case.”

In his interview to the BNS agency Mr. Andreyev reminded that it was already long ago that the delegations of the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchates signed the Berlin Protocol which formed a basis for solving the ownership conflict. “If the parties adhered to the provisions of this protocol, the registration of the EOC MP Statute would be the final stage in the solution of the church conflict”, Mr. Andreyev stressed.

According to previous reports by the Communication Service of the Moscow Patriarchate, the draft agreement, developed by representatives of both Patriarchates in Berlin in February 2001, was also approved by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. Unfortunately, till now we have not received any official reply from the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople concerning the approval of this document signed by the members of the Constantinople delegation.