The state orders us to unite with the Patriarchate of Constantinople, - hierarch of the Estonian Church

The hierarch of the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (EOC MP), Bishop Daniel of Tartu, vicar of the Tallinn diocese, said that the Estonian government is pushing the church to join the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The hierarch claims that pressure is being exerted on the GOC because of Patriarch Kirill’s position on the Russian-Ukrainian war. According to him, the state does not take into account that the Estonian Church does not agree with the views of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church on this issue. He said this in an interview with Delfi.

“There has never been and will never be a case when the canonical jurisdiction has to be changed because of the opinion of one person. Throughout history, various local churches have been led by people who supported false doctrines, but even then, entire churches did not move to another hierarchy. We do not support Patriarch Kirill’s position on the war in Ukraine. We are not obliged to support it. We have our own position,” — said Bishop Daniel.

He added that despite the fact that the GOC has its own position on the Russian-Ukrainian war, which does not coincide with the views of Patriarch Kirill, the Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs still exerts pressure to make the Church part of the local branch of the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

“We have freedom of religion, freedom of thought, guaranteed by the Constitution. The state orders me to unite with the Apostolic Church of the Constantinople Patriarchate. Is there freedom here or not? And we have no intention of doing anything wrong. We are still suspected of doing something. The principle of collective guilt is not a principle of the rule of law. It is wrong to adopt a law according to which a certain religious organization can be closed. We are acting here on the basis of Estonian laws. We want there to be freedom of religion. The church should have the opportunity to decide,” — the hierarch added.

Earlier we reported that the Estonian government plans that the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church will break all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate by the summer of 2025. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic expects that the anti-church bill submitted to the Riigikogu will help in this.