Recall, the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate published a press release on the results of a meeting with representatives of the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs, where the steps of the Church to separate from the Russian Orthodox Church were discussed. The EOC MP stated that the separation from the Moscow Patriarchate would take place in two stages.
The Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church removed from its name the mention of belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate
On August 20, 2024 under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Eugene of Tallinn and All Estonia the second session of the Council of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was held, the main task of which was to approve ways to achieve greater administrative independence of the Church, taking into account the agreements reached in negotiations with the state. This is reported by the official website of the EOC.
It is reported that the Council adopted a new version of the statute of the Church, which enshrines independence in matters of church-administrative, church-economic, church-educational and church-civic. The name of the Church was also changed to “Estonian Orthodox Church”, granted by the Tomos of His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.
Nevertheless, the Estonian government remained dissatisfied with this decision of the EOC. Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets called the new name “problematic” because “this church does not unite all Estonian Orthodox communities and Orthodox believers. And therefore the name ‘Estonian Orthodox Church’ may be misleading.” The head of the Interior Ministry also said that the Estonian authorities expect the EOC “not to make cosmetic administrative changes, but to take serious steps toward leaving the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate”.
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