EOC MP bishop: The Estonian Church will not move under Phanar's jurisdiction

Bishop Daniil of Tartu. Photo: rus.err.ee

Bishop Daniil of Tartu, Vicar of the Tallinn Diocese, stated in an interview with the national broadcaster ERR on August 1 that both the leadership of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (EOC MP) and the parishioners are against uniting with the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAOC), which is under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

"This option (of unification, – Ed.) was unexpectedly proposed to us back in May. But we said that we do not see any constructiveness of such a proposal. Neither the leadership nor the parishioners agree with such a transition," said Bishop Daniil.

The hierarch noted that in theory, autocephaly is possible. However, in practice, it is a very lengthy process that, as history shows, can take years, decades, or even longer.

Regarding specific proposals for amending the EOC MP's statutes, Bishop Daniil said that the Church agrees to remove some references.

"We often hear accusations or just statements of fact regarding our statutes: that we are directly subordinate either to the Patriarch or even to the President of a neighboring country. But we have already said that we do not have such direct subordination; we have canonical church connections. And since this topic is very sensitive, the Church agrees to change the statutes, remove references to the current statutes of the Russian Orthodox Church, and revert to the references of 1993, which are fundamental to our church structure," explained the Vicar of the Tallinn Diocese.

As the UOJ reported, the Estonian Church announced that it would separate from the MP in two stages.

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