“The initiators of the draft law are forcing us to commit a canonical crime,” the abbess of the Pyukhtitsa Monastery

Abbess Filaretta, the abbess of the Holy Dormition Stavropegic Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church (Estonia), published an open letter to the Parliament of the Republic of Estonia, in which she described the attitude of the monastery’s residents to the government’s legislative initiatives aimed at restricting the activities of the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church and the Pühtõti Monastery of the Russian Orthodox Church. Abbess Filaret believes that the monastery, as well as the entire Estonian Christian Orthodox Church, is being subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, and these legislative initiatives not only violate the right of citizens to freedom of religion, but also push the church community to violate the canonical order. The letter was published on the monastery’s website.

“We understand the purpose of the bill — to force the GOC of the MP to change jurisdiction and come under the patronage of Constantinople. And our repeated explanations that the monastery cannot initiate and renounce jurisdiction on its own went unheard. The legal side of the document is handled by lawyers. We are simple monks who have never been cunning with the authorities, and now we are telling you and the public the same thing — we are honest in our position before God and before people. No doubt you understand perfectly well that by approving the amendments to the law, you are putting the monastery outside the law, giving it only 2 options to choose from: either a change of jurisdiction or forced liquidation — you understand perfectly well that by your actions you are actually closing the monastery. Do you really want to go down in history as parliamentarians who forcibly terminated the existence of the Estonian Orthodox women’s monastery known for over a hundred years?”, — the letter reads.

The Pühtitsa Monastery noted that the state is pushing the monastery to violate the canonical order. At the same time, the nuns rely on God’s will, rejecting any demands to make concessions to the Estonian government.

“One cannot but wonder at the position of the state, which places responsibility for the current situation on the monastery residents, making us responsible for the decisions made by politicians. We have withdrawn from the world, we are far from political problems, we live outside of politics, serving God through prayer and work, and yet we are literally drawn into politics and accused of unwillingness to engage in dialogue. We would like to remind you of the story of the long-suffering Job from the Old Testament, who lived righteously before God, and the Lord loved him, but the enemy of the human race, envious, began to say that Job was righteous only because God loved him and gave him everything. If he lost everything, he would blaspheme God. In response, the Lord gave the devil the power to do whatever he wanted to Job, with one condition: he could not touch his soul. The soul belongs only to God. Think about it… The initiators of the bill are forcing us to commit a canonical crime, arguing that they are allegedly trying to protect the monastery from problems. Let us respond with the words of the ancient sage Socrates: “Plato is my friend, but the TRUTH is more precious.” We, the monks, humbly respond to all the lies about our holy and beloved monastery: GOD IS YOUR JUDGE!” — the abbess and sisters of the Pyukhtitsa Convent added in the letter.