The Patriarch of Jerusalem expressed readiness to provide any assistance to the Estonian Church

The Primate of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church, His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos, has expressed his readiness to provide any necessary assistance to the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church, which has recently been under increased pressure from the Estonian government. The First Hierarch said this in response to the appeal of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, which was sent to the Primates of all Local Churches in connection with the attempt to ban the EOCC. The message was published by the ROC DECR Communications Service.

“We are closely following the events in Estonia. We in Jerusalem are acutely aware of the violations of freedom of religion. The adoption of the discriminatory law by the Estonian parliament emphasizes the urgent need for unity among us, fellow Patriarchs. We believe that dialogue is the only way to achieve real peace and restore unity between the sister Orthodox Churches. We are ready to offer all our brothers and sisters in Estonia any assistance we can. We pray that one day in the near future our holy Orthodox Church will be in the fullness of unity,” — Patriarch Theophilos wrote in his letter.

Earlier, we reported that the President of Estonia did not sign the anti-church law passed by the Estonian parliament to restrict the activities of the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church. However, later it became known that the Constitutional Commission of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu) agreed on amendments to the legislation concerning the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church (EOCC), in accordance with the recommendations of President Alar Karis. In other words, the law will be finalized and sent to the country’s parliament for another review.