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Estonia and Ukraine: Battleground of Two Orthodox Churches (Part III of III)

The first two parts of this three-part series reviewed the history of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Estonian Orthodox Church (MPEÕK) and the Estonian Orthodox Church (from the Estonian acronym for Eesti Apostlik-Õigeusu Kirik, EAÕK) prior to WWII and after Estonia’s re-independence in 1991. The Estonian Government has now asked the Riigikogu (Parliament) to have the MPEÕK declared an “institution supporting military aggression.” This article explores how these same issues are developing in war-torn Ukraine.

Ukraine and Russia share the same Orthodox Christian roots that date back to 988 AD, in Kyivan Rus, the east Slavic state that both countries consider the root of their modern countries. [The New York Times, “Zelensky Proposes Barring Orthodox Church That Answers to Moscow”]

Until 1991, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church was led by the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus’ of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the 1990s, a new Kyiv-based Orthodox church was formed. [Financial Times, “Ukraine’s Orthodox church granted independence from Russia ties”]

Support for this new church has been growing rapidly since 2014, when Russia invaded Crimea. Mistrust of Russia grew, and in 2018, the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church applied for and was granted its own church independent of the Patriarch of Moscow’s Russian Orthodox Church. This new status was granted in October 2018 by Ecumenical Patriarch Batholomew of Constantinople, on behalf of the Eastern Orthodox Church. This is the first step in a process of attaining independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.

Täismahus artikkel on loetav Eesti Elu tellijatele

Igal nädalal toome me sinuni kõige olulisemad kogukonna uudised ja eksklusiivsed lood uutelt kolumnistidelt. Räägime eestlastele südamelähedastest teemadest, kogukonna tegijatest ja sündmustest. Loodame sinu toele, et meie kogukonna leht jätkuks pikkadeks aastateks.

Hind alates $2.30 nädalas.

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