Monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church Express Support for the Pühtitsa Monastery in Estonia

On April 9, 2025, amendments to the Law on Churches and Congregations were adopted in Estonia, directly affecting the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church. Particular attention has been drawn to the situation of the Pühtitsa Stavropegial Monastery in Kuremäe, which belongs to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate and is not part of the Estonian Orthodox Church.

According to the website of the Department for External Church Relations, the Estonian authorities exerted pressure on the convent, demanding that it change its jurisdiction. However, the abbess, Mother Philareta (Kalachova), firmly refused, stating that the decision regarding stavropegial status lies solely with the Patriarch of Moscow. In a letter addressed to the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, she also noted that the convent’s charter does not allow for such a request.

Speaking at the international conference «The Orthodox Church in Estonia» on November 6, 2024, in Tallinn, the abbess said the Pühtitsa Monastery had become a hostage of political confrontation, which threatens its very existence. She voiced concern over efforts to push the convent out of the legal framework.

Several stavropegial monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church have already expressed their support for the abbess and sisters of the Pühtitsa Monastery, including the Valaam and Solovetsky Transfiguration Monasteries, Optina Pustyn Monastery, and the Novodevichy, Pokrovsky, and Seraphim-Diveyevo Holy Trinity Convents.

As a reminder, on April 9, 2025, the Estonian Parliament passed, in its third and final reading, amendments to the Law on Churches and Congregations. Once in force, the law is expected to pressure the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church to break ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and unite with the local diocese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate in Estonia.