Kuremäe, Estonia, February 5, 2024
Photo: postimees.ee
Abbess of the Pükhtitsa Dormition Convent in Estonia, Mother Philareta (Kalacheva), has written an open letter to the Estonian Parliament, responding to the new bill demanding that the monastery and the Estonian Orthodox Church leave the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Pükhtitsa was founded in 1891 with assistance from St. John of Kronstadt. Besides the Pskov Caves Monastery, it is the only holy habitation to have never closed during the long decades of atheist Bolshevik rule. However, now the monastery faces the possibility of closure because of its canonical status. Though on the territory of Estonia, it is a stavropegial monastery, meaning it falls directly under the episcopal oversight of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Meanwhile, the Estonian Orthodox Church is a self-governing body within the Moscow Patriarchate.
There have been two Orthodox jurisdictions in Estonia since the Patriarchate of Constantinople established a structure parallel to the already existing Church under the Moscow Patriarchate in 1996. Constantinople’s Estonian Church has Constantinople’s Estonian Church proposes vicariate to subsume churches facing state pressureHowever, the EOC has said that it’s willing to hold discussions with the EAOC, but neither the hierarchy nor the faithful are willing to simply join the EAOC.
“>proposed the creation of a vicariate to subsume the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Estonian Orthodox Church, but the latter has Estonian Orthodox Church formally rejects proposal to join Constantinople’s jurisdictionOn September 19, the head of the EAOC proposed at a session of the Estonian Council of Churches to create a Russian vicariate to subsume parishes of the EOC-MP.”>rejected this option.
The Church also issued its own response to the new draft law Estonian Orthodox Church warns new bill threatens its existence in EstoniaIf the draft law is adopted, the Church’s legal entities may face forced liquidation, as it will be impossible to meet the prescribed requirements within the set timeframe.
“>last month.
In her letter, Abbess Philareta plainly states that the MPs know perfectly well that, despite repeated statements that the state isn’t trying to close any churches, the bill aims to place the Church and monastery outside the law, which will result in their closure.
As she has done several times in the past, the abbess again emphasizes that the nuns live a life of prayer, outside of politics, but the state wants them to bear the guilt for statements from Pat. Kirill about the war in Ukraine. Metropolitan Evgeny forced to leave EstoniaHis Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn and All Estonia was forced to leave the country today after the authorities refused to renew his residence permit.
“>Despite evicting the Estonian primate, His Eminence Metropolitan Evgeny of Tallinn, and moving to ban the Church, state authorities have never produced any evidence that the Church poses any kind of threat to national security.
“Do you truly want to go down in history as parliamentarians who forcibly terminated the existence of a well-known Orthodox convent in Estonia that has existed for more than a hundred years?”—something not even the godless Soviets did—Mother Philareta asks.
Read her full statement:
Dear Ministers, Dear Chairman of Parliament, Dear Members of Parliament!
We are addressing you after reading the draft law on amendments to the Law on Churches and Parishes of the Republic of Estonia.
We understand the purpose of the draft law—to force the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to change jurisdiction and come under the protection of Constantinople. And our repeated explanations that a monastery cannot independently initiate and reject jurisdiction have remained unheard.
Lawyers are handling the legal side of the document. We are simple nuns, we have never been deceitful with those in power, and now we say the same to you and society—we are honest in our position both before God and before people.
In the 90s, the monastery completely gave up all property, uncompromisingly and without claims gave everything to the state for the sake of spiritual connection with the Mother Church. We always fulfill the conditions of the contract concluded at that time.
Without a doubt, you understand perfectly well—by approving amendments to the law, you are placing the monastery outside the law, giving only 2 options: either a change of jurisdiction or forced liquidation—you understand perfectly well that by your actions you are effectively closing the monastery. Do you truly want to go down in history as parliamentarians who forcibly terminated the existence of a well-known Orthodox women’s monastery in Estonia that has existed for more than a hundred years?
The position of the state cannot fail to surprise us, placing responsibility for the current situation on the monastery’s inhabitants, making us responsible for decisions made by politicians. We left the world, we are far from political problems, we live outside politics serving God through prayer and work—yet we are literally being dragged into politics and accused of unwillingness to engage in dialogue.
We want to remind you of the story of long-suffering Job from the Old Testament, who lived righteously before God, and the Lord loved him, but the enemy of mankind, envious, began to say that Job was righteous only because God loved him and gave him everything. If he were to lose everything, he would blaspheme God. To this, the Lord gave the devil power to do with Job whatever he wanted, with one condition—not to touch his soul. The soul belongs only to God. Think about this…
The initiators of the draft law are forcing us to commit a canonical crime, motivating this by claiming they are trying to protect the monastery from problems. We will answer with the words of the ancient sage Socrates: “Plato is my friend, but TRUTH is dearer.”
To all the untruth regarding our holy and beloved monastery, we, the inhabitants, humbly respond: GOD be your JUDGE!…
Respectfully,
Abbess Philareta with the sisters
Estonia’s Pukhtitsa Monastery: If the state wants us to change jurisdiction, it can make its own appeal to the PatriarchIf the government of the Republic of Estonia, represented by the Minister of Internal Affairs, insists on changing the jurisdiction of the monastery, then as the initiator of the process, the government itself may approach Patriarch Kirill with a proposal to cancel the stavropegial status of Pukhtitsa Monastery. Abbess Philareta noted that such a course is canonically legitimate for the convent’s residents.
“>In April, the monastery issued a statement saying that if the Estonian government wants the monastery to leave the Moscow Patriarchate, then let the state make its own appeal to the Patriarch. Another statement from the abbess Pühtitsa abbess responds to Estonia’s demands to change Church jurisdictionThe monastery’s way of life is determined by its statutes, which prohibits an unauthorized change of jurisdiction.”>in November emphasized that the monastery is governed by its statutes, which don’t allow for a self-willed change of jurisdiction.
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Source: Orthodox Christianity