“The abbreviation MP in our name has become a marker that causes more and more pressure on us,” - the hierarch of the Estonian Orthodox Church

The hierarch of the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church (EOC MP), Bishop Daniel of Tartu, Vicar of the Diocese of Tallinn, said that pressure on the Church in Estonia continues, despite the fact that the Estonian government could not name which laws were violated and why the Parliament of the Republic is moving to ban the EOC. The bishop believes that the actions of the authorities against the Estonian Church are dictated by political rather than legal reasons. This is reported by the publication Postimees.

“The Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has repeatedly expressed its anti-war position and actively helped refugees from Ukraine, but, unfortunately, the abbreviation MP in our name has become a marker that causes increasing pressure on us. In the current political context, a simplistic approach has prevailed, where everything is divided into black and white, and any connection with Moscow, including the canonical connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, is automatically perceived as a threat, without trying to understand the essence of the issue,” — the bishop wrote.

The bishop added that the state’s claims against the GOC are all the more unfounded because the parishioners of the Estonian Church are Estonian citizens who were born and have always lived in the country. Nevertheless, the government of the republic in every possible way blocks any initiatives of the Church to establish an adequate dialogue with the authorities, persuading them to make a decision that will be in the interests of the state, but not the GOC.

“Our parishioners are local residents, mostly Russian-speaking people for whom Estonia is their home. These are people who were born, raised and built their lives here. Now they have been joined by many refugees from Ukraine. And we all have to face the growing distrust. It is manifested both in concrete actions — our lease agreement for the church office was terminated, insurance companies do not want to work with us or raise prices dramatically, we are deprived of opportunities to receive financial assistance from the state, and in symbolic gestures: when we tried to change our name, removing the abbreviation MP, we were refused. We can still pray and preach in churches, but we have been tacitly excluded from participating in the Hommikumõtisklus radio program,” — added Bishop Daniel.

Earlier we reported that the Estonian government again refused to register the new legal name of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Despite the fact that, at the request of the authorities, the EOC changed its name for the second time by submitting the relevant documents to the registration authorities, this was not enough for the republic’s authorities. The state is not satisfied with the fact that the new name “Estonian Christian Orthodox Church” allegedly “misleads as to the purpose and scope of its activities, as it creates a false impression that it is a Church that unites all Orthodox believers in Estonia.”