The Estonian Orthodox Church told how it will separate from the Moscow Patriarchate

The Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has published a press release following a meeting with representatives of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, at which the Church’s steps toward separation from the Russian Orthodox Church were discussed. The EOC MP stated that the withdrawal from the Moscow Patriarchate will take place in two stages. This is reported by the official website of the EOC MP.

It is reported that the representative of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic Raivo Kuyt told about the expectations of the state, which consist in the complete separation of the EOC-MP from the Moscow Patriarchate, both from the canonical and legal point of view, because “the state is obliged to protect the population of Estonia from the influence of a hostile regime.” At the same time, Kut emphasized that a solution will be found through cooperation and that the state does not intend to close churches under the jurisdiction of the EOC-MP or the Pyukhtitsa Monastery, or hinder the work of the communities. “Freedom of religion is guaranteed and services will continue,” — assured Kuyt.

In turn, in the EOC MP told about their vision of the process of separation from the Moscow Patriarchate. First of all, the Church plans to make changes to the charter, after which the EOC MP plans to start a dialog with the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“The EOC MP presented its vision of a two-stage process of detachment from the Moscow Patriarchate, first, by amending the current charter, and second, by starting consultations with the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church to find ways to unite all Orthodox believers in Estonia into a single church in the future,” — the press release said.

As a next step, it was decided that the EOC MP will submit to the Ministry of the Interior by the end of August concrete proposals for amending the Statute, as well as the necessary steps and timetable for implementing the amendments. On this basis, the Ministry of the Interior will formulate its position no later than the end of September.

At the same time, the EOC-MP will agree and inform the Ministry of the Interior of the date when the EOC-MP will meet with representatives of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church and start drawing up a roadmap for the EOC-MP’s activities in the second phase.