The Estonian Ministry of Internal Affairs invited representatives of the Estonian Orthodox Church to a conversation Church of the Moscow Patriarchate due to the fact that the Russian Orthodox Church called the war in Ukraine “sacred.”
As reported by ERR, this was announced by the Minister of Internal Affairs Lauri Leanemets, he noted that the statements of Patriarch Kirill were unacceptable and the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted would like to find out the position of the EOC MP on this matter, so they were invited to a conversation on Tuesday morning.
"Among other things, the patriarch said that the war against Ukraine – this is a war against the entire West, that is, against us (…) It is unthinkable that a religious leader in any Western state in the 21st century would demonstrate such incitement to war.”, – stated Läenemets.
The Minister recalled that in Estonia, incitement to hatred and expression of support for Russia’s war against Ukraine are prohibited.
"I would like to know the position of the EOC MP and their plans for further actions in connection with Kirill's statements. Moreover, this is not just a statement", – he emphasized, recalling that we are talking about the decision of the Russian People's Council chaired by Kirill.
"It is unacceptable for the EOC MP to be guided by such instructions and vision in its activities", – Lauri Läenemets emphasized.
According to him, the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate has about 100 thousand believers in Estonia.
The EOC MP has already published an announcement that its Metropolitan Evgeniy was not at the Russian congresses People's Council for at least the last six years, including the last one.
Prepared by: Nina Petrovich