EDITORIAL ⟩ Epilogue to «the great onion war»*

Caricature by Urmas Nemvalts​​ Photo: Urmas Nemvalts.

• On Wednesday, the Riigikogu will decide the future of the Estonian Orthodox Church.
• Russia has long harbored a Third Rome complex.
• Moscow appeals to religious freedom.

On Wednesday, the Riigikogu will hold the third reading of a bill of amendments to the Churches and Congregations Act, intended to break the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPEÕK) free from Moscow's sphere of influence. MPEÕK speaks of breaking canonical ties and interference with religious freedom, however.

Russia's attack on Ukraine has unfortunately illustrated vividly that the Orthodox churches of the Moscow Patriarchate are among Vladimir Putin's hybrid tools, operating in the «near abroad» through ideological and intelligence activities. It is worth remembering that the patriarchate's activity was restored by Stalin during the darkest moments of World War II, when any help was welcome and it once again suited the regime to appeal to the religious faith of ordinary Russians. It is no secret that the church operated under the watchful eye of the GRU/KGB, and it is therefore understandable why the Ukrainians eventually decisively severed that connection.

The canonical link of MPEÕK (or more accurately, the Estonian Christian Orthodox Church, as the denomination has wished to be called since this spring – a clever PR move, without doubt) includes, among other things, the requirement that the head of the church – the metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia – must be approved by the patriarch of Moscow and the synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

As for this canonical connection, MPEÕK was established by the occupation authorities in 1945 based on the Russian Orthodox Church active in Estonia at the time. However, MPEÕK took over the entire local autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church, declaring its move under the jurisdiction of the ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople in 1923 as canonically invalid. In simpler terms – instead of answering to Constantinople, the church had to answer to Moscow.

This dispute goes back to the 15th century, when the Turks conquered the Orthodox city of Constantinople – the «Second Rome» – after which Moscow gradually began to regard itself as the protector of all Orthodox Christians. The term «Third Rome»​ holds a central place in the imperial ideology of present-day Russia.

In the 1990s, a major church conflict broke out in Estonia when Moscow used every means at its disposal to prevent the restoration of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church under the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople.

Going back to the early days of Estonia's regained independence in the 1990s, a major church conflict broke out in Estonia when Moscow used every means at its disposal to prevent the restoration of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church under the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople. In the end, some congregations and church buildings went to one side, and others to the other. MPEÕK still wanted the same name – Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church – and when it did not get it, refused for years to legalize its activities, doing so only in 2002. Most likely, in those years Moscow pressured the Estonian government to make a decision favorable to Moscow, and our government found it difficult to resist, as Moscow played the «religious freedom» card.

That card has once again been played, but the war in Ukraine has stripped away the masks. The roots of the Orthodox Church are in Constantinople. Those who disagree do not necessarily have to be labeled heretics, but it is time to understand that the connection to the Moscow Patriarchate is a relic of the occupation era, with no legitimate basis in church history.

* «The great onion war» is a tongue-in-cheek label for the Estonian state's dispute with MPEÕK over the latter's ties to Moscow, with «onion» referring to the domes typical of Russian Orthodox churches.