His Holiness the Patriarch Expresses His Hope that All the Problems of Ensuring the Rights of the Believers in Estonia Will Be Settled

HIS HOLINESS THE PATRIARCH EXPRESSES HIS HOPE THAT ALL THE PROBLEMS OF ENSURING THE RIGHTS OF THE BELIEVERS IN ESTONIA WILL BE SETTLED

In his talk with the journalists after the meeting with the Prime Minister of Estonia Yuhan Parts His Holiness Patriarch Alexy noted that the main subject of the talk with the head of the government was the ‘ensuring of equal rights of all the Orthodox believers in Estonia irrespective of their jurisdiction’.

According to the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church, not all problems of ensuring the rights of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate have been solved so far. ‘Yet, we hope, – underlined Patriarch Alexy, – that with the assistance of the new government of Estonia these problems will find their solution’.

His Holiness the Patriarch called ‘a great error’ of the Estonian authorities of the early 1990s the situation of that time, in which the ‘considerably strong Russian-speaking population connected with the Orthodox Church was regarded inferior’.

Patriarch Alexy wished the inhabitants of Estonia well being, prosperity and happiness. He also expressed his wish for Estonia, when it enters the European Union as a full member, to keep its traditional values, which have always been a specific feature of Estonian people’.

While commenting on the results of his meeting with the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the Prime Minister of Estonia underlined that ‘the visit of the Patriarch is a historic event’ and that ‘it was a great honour and joy for him to welcome the Patriarch’. Yuhan Parts expressed his appreciation with the fact that the legal problems of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate have been largely solved and the problem of the church property is being solved.