Unexpectedly, the two orthodox churches of Estonia are regular lead items on Estonia’s nightly news. How did this happen? Why do two Orthodox churches exist? What is their history and why does Estonia’s Minister of the Interior consider the Moscow Patriarchate’s Estonian Orthodox Church a Russian fifth column in Estonia? Read on to find out the answers to these questions.
The Russian Orthodox Church has always been controversial in Estonia. As Tsarist Russia had ruled Estonia from 1710 until 1917, it is perhaps obvious that the Russian Orthodox Church (based in Moscow, Russia) was the only orthodox church in Estonia. During the 1880s, a period of russification took place in Estonia, with the Russian Orthodox Church working hard to convert Lutheran Estonians to the Orthodox religion (Russian Orthodox believers were forbidden by law to convert to Lutheranism).
Estonians wanted to reform the Russian orthodox church, for more Estonian to be spoken in churches, and for the church to support Estonians fighting for an independent Estonia.
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