The process that has brought us to this day and moment has lasted almost a year. The turning point was the Russian Orthodox Church Council held on 27 March last year, which under the leadership of the highest clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, adopted a document that clearly states: “The territory of Ukraine must be annexed to Russia.”
Patriarch Kirill also said in his speech at the time that he and his team considered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to be a holy war against the West which has fallen into the clutches of Satan.
He and his team are the top leadership of the Moscow Patriarchate. The same Moscow Patriarchate that today has both direct legal and canonical influence over the church operating in Estonia, its dozens of congregations and tens of thousands of human souls. Also over the Pühtitsa Convent.
This West, against which Kirill has declared holy war is, in the imperialist worldview of the Moscow Patriarchate, both Ukraine, where bombs are falling, and also the West, where Estonia is located, with all the congregations here and the Pühtitsa Convent.
This declaration became a turning point, where the Estonian state urgently requested that the local religious associations directly subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate, primarily the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, but also Pühtitsa, find a way to disassociate themselves from such a radicalised church.
Just as dozens of congregations in Moldova did, in response to Kirill's words and on their own initiative, they renounced the Moscow Patriarchate. Moldova is not even a member state of the European Union yet, but the church leaders there had the straightforwardness to make such a decision.
Nothing like this has happened with us. The state has met with representatives of the Moscow Church here, I personally went to Pühtitsa to explain our state's concerns and position to the Hegumenness Philareta and the nuns. Nothing. All the meetings that have taken place over the past 9 months have proved fruitless, and at best, new name versions or cosmetic changes to the statutes have been proposed, for which Patriarch Kirill's permission is still required.
The church in Estonia is still led by a metropolitan whose residence permit was denied extension for security reasons. For a year now, the church in Estonia has not had the autonomy or the will to choose a leader who could reside here in Estonia – let alone one who is from here.
This is the context that has brought us to today. What we are doing:
We are amending the Churches and Congregations Act so that, in order to protect religious freedom, we exclude hostile external influence on the religious life of Estonia through religious associations operating here. Whether this influence comes through hostile and radicalised religious teachings, religious leaders who threaten our security and who are not even allowed to enter the country, or through financial influence on our churches and religious associations by hostile organisations of foreign origin.
Why are we doing this? Very simple: to protect religious freedom. Exactly. To keep our faith free from hostile, malicious external interference or management, which could abuse the religious communities operating here and in any form to interfere in our internal politics.
Yes, today the main question is inevitably what effect the law has on the religious associations operating here under direct subordination to the Moscow Patriarchate and Patriarch Kirill. But we live in a world where religion is once again increasingly being used for political influence or incitement to hatred against other races, nations, countries and… other people.
This draft law gives our country the right and the opportunity to exclude in the future any religious association led or financed by a foreign country from establishing or operating in Estonia, the purpose of which is – whether using any god, deities or scripture as an excuse – to sow strife and hatred in our society instead of peace of mind and the teaching of goodness.
How we have done this: in constant cooperation with all parties, including the Estonian Council of Churches. We have helped to seek and offer opportunities for the Russian Orthodox congregations here to free themselves from the yoke of the radicalised and anti-Western Moscow Patriarchate and its supreme religious leader. So that the people of Estonia do not have to pray and bow to a religious leader who, among other things, sees our land, state and people as some kind of historical misunderstanding that should be taken back using a holy war.
Despite the harassment of many vocal and politically motivated critics, the Ministry of the Interior's religious affairs experts and lawyers worked diligently to ensure that we can bring a draft to the Riigikogu today that will ensure both continued freedom of religion and ensure that religion cannot be used against our country and people in the future.
What happens if the Riigikogu decides to vote in favour of the draft and it enters into force?
Closing religious organisations – whether it is a church or a convent – has never been our goal. On the contrary. We have done everything we can to prevent this. Unfortunately, the moderate approach so far has not borne tangible fruit.
In recent weeks, we have seen how people who have dedicated themselves to serving God are increasingly aggressively interfering in secular politics – acknowledged lawyers are hired as spokespersons, once or twice a week appeals and statements are sent out which the ministry and politicians read through the media.
If a choice has to be made between meeting the legitimate wishes of our country or defending their subordination to Moscow at all costs, the leaders of the religious associations here under the Moscow Patriarchate clearly choose in favour of Moscow. It has been so in the past, it is today, and will be in the future.
We cannot accept this choice and we offer them a new choice: either to bring their activities into line with the law in force in our country and our value space after the amended law comes into force, or simply to cease their activities.
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Some say that we are going against religious freedom. To them I answer: cuius regio, eius religio – to whom belongs the land, belongs the religion. This legal principle, adopted in Augsburg, at that time reconciled secular and eternal power by recognising that in each territory the religion of its ruler dominated.
In the Republic of Estonia, the land belongs to the Estonian people and to our sovereignty. Every religious organisation wishing to operate in our country must respect our people, state and sovereignty at its highest level. Here, we cannot worship religious leaders who, for example, consider our nation and statehood to be a historical misunderstanding; or who otherwise contradict the values and fundamental principles valid here.
Just as Bishop Danil is wrong in claiming that the patriarch does not represent the entire church and that patriarchs come and go. The patriarch is the supreme leader of the entire religious network subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate and he is responsible for his words spoken to everything and everyone. Patriarchs may come and go, but starting from Stalin’s time until today and onwards, they have always served their corrupt, bloodthirsty and imperialist secular leaders within the walls of the Kremlin – whether their name currently be the Tsar, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, the President or any other “father”.
There must be no place in Estonia for religious leaders, symbols and teachings that belittle or split our people and country. Let these religious leaders and teachings come from the East, the Middle East today or even from the West or the South tomorrow.
Thank you.
