Estonian Orthodox Christian Church announces preparations for the Council

On May 23, 2025, the Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Christian Church decided to hold a Council. The event, scheduled for June 10, 2025, is aimed at discussing topical issues of the life of the Estonian Orthodox Church in the light of the legislative initiatives of the Estonian government to restrict the activities of the Church. This is reported by the official website of the EOCC.

It is reported that during the meeting, the agenda of the Council and the composition of the mandate commission were approved. During the meeting, the financial and economic report of the EOCC for 2024 was approved and a draft budget for 2025 was prepared, which will be submitted for approval by the Council.

In addition, the Synod paid special attention to the situation around the EOCC in the media space. In connection with the discussion of changes to the law on churches and parishes, the Church has come under the scrutiny of the media this year. The members of the Synod expressed concern about the biased coverage of church life in some media, and in one case the EOCC was forced to file a complaint with the Press Council, which is currently under consideration.

As reported, on May 14, 2025, the Estonian parliament decided to finalize the law on churches and parishes based on the comments of President Alar Karis. 85 out of 101 deputies voted in favor of the resolution, and none supported the re-adoption of the law without changes.