The
missionary activity of Byzantium was started by Patriarch
Photius in the 9th century. It was the freedom that
the Byzantines emperors had given to Vikings to trade
with the peoples of the Mediterranean Sea that allowed
the people of the Northern Lands to hear about and come
in contact with the Orthodox Faith of Byzantines. More
than a century after Photius' discussion of the peoples
of Northern Lands, Vladimir, the leader of Kiev Russ
tribes, was baptized an Orthodox Christian in 988. Vladimir's
acceptance of Orthodoxy offered an example and motivated
his people to learn about and accept Orthodoxy. Thus,
a great number of Kiev Russ tribes were baptized Orthodox.
It is from the area of Kiev Russ that missionaries would
bring the Orthodox Christianity to the peoples of Northern
Lands. Moreover, the history records that Jaroslav,
the Grand Duke of Kiev (the Christian name of Jaroslav,
the Grand Duke of Kiev, was George) and one of the sons
of Vladimir (as mentioned above, Jaroslav was the leader
of the Kiev Russ tribes and the first who accepted and
brought Orthodoxy to the Northern Lands) brought the
Chud tribes (the ancestors of Estonians) to live in
the Pskov and Novgorod areas in 1030. Those tribes were
governed by the princes of Novgorod. Jaroslav also founded
the city of Juryev at the bank of the river Omorzhe,
which is to be found in the areas of Pskov and Novgorod.
The city of Juryev was later renamed Dorpat (now Tartu).
The Grand Duke of Kiev Jaroslav also built a church
dedicated to St. George in Juryev. The year of 1838
is the turning point of the further establishment and
broadening of the Orthodox Faith and the Orthodox Church
in Estonia. It occurred through strange and distressed
circumstances. Up to that time, the majority of Estonians
were Protestants (having been first christianized by
Germans first as Catholics, Estonians became Protestants
after the explosion of Reformation in Germany and Northern
Europe). The year of 1838 was the hardest for the farmers
of the land of Estonia. It had not rained for three
consecutive years, and the draught had destroyed all
the crops. Nothing was virtually left in the land. Then,
the farmers, in an act of despair, decided and went
to the city of Riga to meet with the Governor. They
were not able to meet him ; instead, they met Bishop
Irinarhiga of the Orthodox Diocese of Riga. He promised
them to talk with the Governor in favor of their problems
and convinced them to go back to their homes. Bishop
Irinarhiga did speak with the Governor about the farmers'
situation, but he did not stop there. He himself sent
them some aid, that is, food to feed their families
and money for travel expenses. The kind gesture of that
Orthodox Bishop had two important consequences. On one
hand, the Bishop himself was transferred to another
city after some furious local lords had complained to
the Governor that Bishop Irinarhiga had spent money
to help the local farmers. On the other hand, the elders
of those farmers, seeing Bishop Irinarhiga's self-sacrificial
attitude, had a change of heart and faith ; from Protestants
they converted to and got baptized into Orthodox. In
the beginning of the 1920s, the state authorities in
Soviet Russia began an open persecution against the
Russian Orthodox Church. An immediate consequence of
that persecution was that the authorities of the Russian
Orthodox Church were deprived of being in contact with
their dioceses and any churches abroad. From May 1922
to June 1923, the situation got worse because Patriarch
Tikhon was arrested and unable to administer over the
Russian Orthodox Church. The lack of communication with
the church authorities of the Moscow Patriarchate compelled
the Archpastor of Revel and Estonia -that is, Bishop
Alexander to approach Ecumenical Patriarch Meletios
IV of Constantinople with a request to take the Orthodox
Church in Estonia under his spiritual care. To this
end, Archbishop Alexander visited the Patriarchate of
Constantinople and received the Patriarchal Synodal
Tome on 7 July 1923. That Tome was confirming the autonomous
status of the Estonian Orthodox Church and the rights
and obligations of its Primate. The ruling Archpastor
was given the title of «Metropolitan of Tallinn and
All Estonia», while the Church was named «The Estonian
Orthodox Metropolis» In September 1924, the Estonian
Orthodox Church was divided into two dioceses : that
of Tallinn and that of Narva. In October 1937, Archpriest
Pavel (Dmitrovsky) was consecrated as the Bishop of
Narva. It should be noted that, in 1935, under the influence
of Metropolitan Alexander, the Council of the Estonian
Orthodox Church adopted a new statute. The Church was
now designated as «The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church»
(EAOC). The EA0C was a legal identity, which had the
right to own and dispose of the movable and non-movable
property of its parishes and other institutions. Early
in 1940, the Autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church had
some 210,000 members, out of the country's total population
of 1,200,000. About 80 per cent of the members were
Estonian nationals, the other 20 per cent were mainly
Russians including a small number of nationals of neighboring
countries. There were one hundred and fifty-six active
parishes which were served by three Bishops (including
the Metropolitan), one hundred and thirty one priests,
seven priest-monks, nineteen deacons and three deacon-monks
- one hundred and sixty-four clergymen in all. There
were also two monasteries with two subsidiary establishments.
Petseri, one of the monasteries, housed a Theological
Seminary. For those who wanted to further their theological
education, they could enter into the Theological Faculty
at Tartu University. In June 1940, the Soviet Army invaded
and occupied Estonia as well as Latvia and Lithuania,
the other two Baltic States. These three Baltic states
were shortly incorporated into the Soviet Union, as
new Soviet Republics,- that incorporation meant subordination
to the Moscow Patriarchate. The Theological Seminary
in the Petseri Monastery and the Theological Faculty
of the Tartu University were closed down, the teaching
of religion in schools was forbidden, and all religious
publications were suppressed. Churches and clergy paid
extremely high rates for all communal services, such
as electricity and water. During that year of Soviet
control, there were considerable losses of clergy. Five
priests were arrested and shot, twelve priests were
arrested at night and deported to Siberia. According
to the Russian Orthodox point of view, it was during
an enlarged meeting of the EAOC Synod (chaired by Metropolitan
Alexander of Tallinn and All Estonia) on 27 December
1940 that it was decided that Estonian Orthodox Church
be to restore canonical relations with the Orthodox
Church. In March 194 1, Metropolitan Alexander visited
Moscow, where the official reunification between the
Estonian Orthodox Church and the Russian Orthodox Church
took place on 31 March. Later, Metropolitan Sergey,
the Patriarchal Locum Tenens to Estonia, incorporated
the Estonian Orthodox Church in the Baltic Exarchate
of the Russian Orthodox Church under Metropolitan Sergey
(Vokresensky) of Lithuania and Vilno. While those negotiations
were taking place, another mass deportation of Estonian
priests and lay persons alike from the Baltic countries
was executed by Russian officials on 13 June 1941. Soon
after the German-Russian war broke out and, while the
World War II was raging in the rest of Europe, Estonia
was occupied by the German Armed Forces. Up to that
time, a fierce struggle had started and was still raging
between Exarch Sergey and Metropolitan Alexander, the
former Head of the Estonian Orthodox Church. That straggle
finally led to a complete breakdown between the Estonian
and Russian Orthodox Churches towards the end of 1942.
With the permission of the German authorities, the Orthodox
Christians in Estonia could now choose with which Patriarchate
they wished to join. The Russian parishes chose to remain
with Bishop Pave, who was under Exarch (Metropolitan)
Sergey. The Estonian nationals, however, chose to remain
with Metropolitan Alexander. Then the Estonian Orthodox
Christians renounced the enforced subordination to the
Moscow Patriarchate and resumed the canonical connection
with the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
of Constantinople. Of course, those enmities and fractions
meant that the Estonian Orthodox Christians were divided
into two groups, each of which belonged to a different
jurisdiction. Nevertheless, this period did not last
very long only until September 1944 - when the Soviet
Army reoccupied and annexed Estonia. Before the reoccupation
over 80,000 people fled from their Estonia in order
to escape the Stalinist terror. The refugees traveled
westward, preferring to face the unknown than being
sent to Siberia. Some Estonians went to Sweden, others
to Germany. At that time Metropolitan Alexander and
about a 22 priests and deacons decided and fled to Germany,
and later to Sweden. In 1944, immediately after Soviet
Army Forces had invaded, occupied and annexed Estonia,
the repression and persecution of the Church began.
The first who suffered was Bishop Peeter (Pähkel) who
was deported to Siberia and died there in 1948. Many
other Orthodox clergy were deported, arrested and imprisoned;
some were transferred even to other parts of the Soviet
Union. The clergy, who remained in Estonia, and church
communities suffered from a heavy financial burden imposed
by the Soviet State, as well. Moreover, church-goers
were subjected to public derision, threats, and interference
with their careers. Despite the harassing methods employed
by the Soviet authorities, under the ruthless rule of
Stalin or, under the other slightly milder authorities,
the churches managed to survive, although they were
greatly reduced. According to documentation, before
the World War II there were hundred and fifty-eighth
Orthodox parishes served by hundred and sixty priests
and thirty deacons in Estonia. On January 1948, Metropolitan
Alexander appointed a Synod of eight members, five of
whom were priests and three laymen. The Synod now conducted
regular church business - registration of congregations,
a number of hymn books were published and even courses
were arranged in Stockholm to train new priests. During
the lifetime of Metropolitan Alexander, eighteen Synodal
meetings took place, and thirty-nine meetings after
his death until the consecration of Bishop Jüri. After
the death of Metropolitan Alexander, on October 1953,
the Synod informed the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
about the situation of the Estonians in Sweden. Then,
the Patriarch appointed Archbishop Athenagoras of Thyateira
as Locum Tenens, being effective on December 1953. Seven
years later, Bishop Jüri earlier Archpriest Jüri Välbe
was consecrated Bishop of Ravenna by the Exarch Archbishop
Athenagoras of Thyateira, who was assisted by Metropolitan
Jacob from Geneva, Bishop Chrysostomos from Vienna and
a number of Estonian priests. Bishop Jüri died suddenly
on the 3rd August 1961, a death which was considered
a heavy blow to the Church. Exarch Athenagoras of Thyateira
was once again appointed the Locum Tenens of the "Estonian
Orthodox Church in Exile." During the Soviet occupation
the administration of this Church was under Archbishop
Pavel (Dimitrovsky) of Tallinn and Estonia from 1945
to 1946, and under Metropolitan Grigory (Chukov) of
Leningrad and Novgorod from 1946 to 1947 and from 1949
to 1950. From 1947 to 1949, there was Bishop Isidor
(Bogoyavlensky). During the years of the administration
of Metropolitan Grigory, the Vicar Bishop Roman (Tang)
of Tallinn assisted. Bishop Roman, an Estonian, became
the ruling Hierarch of the Diocese of Tallinn from 1950
to 1952. In 1958, Bishop loann (Alekseyev) administered
over Tallinn and Estonia, but he died on June 1966.
On 3 September 1961, Bishop Alexy (Ridiger), who was
born in Estonia and began his pastoral ministry there,
was appointed the Bishop of Tallinn and Estonia. On
23 July 1964, he became Archbishop. On 12 February 1968,
Archbishop Alexy became the Head of the Estonian Orthodox
Diocese of Tallinn until 1990. Then Archimandrite Kornily
(Jakobs) took over as the Bishop of Tallinn, Patriarchal
vicar. In August 1992, Kornily was appointed the Ruling
Bishop of the Diocese with the title of the Bishop of
Tallinn and Estonia. At the same time, Metropolitan
Alexy was holding the Office of the Administrator of
the Moscow Patriarchate, and was the Head of the Secretariat
of the Synod of the Moscow. In 1990, Metropolitan Alexy
was consecrated as the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.
In 1991, after Estonia had broken away from the Soviet
Union, the sovereignty of the Estonian Republic was
restored. At the time, the ruling Bishop in Estonia
was Kornily (Jakobs). He held negotiations with the
Government concerning a number of urgent internal ecclesiastical
matters, which could not be resolved without state support.
On 11 August 1993, instead of registering the representatives
of the Russian Orthodox Synod, the Estonian State Department
of Religions registered the representatives of the «Synod
of the Estonian Orthodox Church in Exile» as the sole
legal successor of the Autonomous Estonian Apostolic
Church. That registration was of political and social
importance because it made the «Synod of the Estonian
Orthodox Church in Exile» the sole owner of all church-related
immovable property in Estonia. The Russian Orthodox
Church started legal proceedings to defend its legal
and canonical position in the country, that the «Synod
in Exile» had neither an episcopal structure nor an
administrative office in Estonia, as required by Estonian
law. In 1994, another unexpected event came to be added
to the above. A petition signed by the representatives
of 54 out of the 83 Orthodox parishes in Estonia formally
requested to join the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate. The 54 parishes represented the majority
of the Orthodox believers in the country, and included
both Estonian-speaking and Russian-speaking communities.
A year later, a series of negotiations between the Ecumenical
Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate failed
to reach a solution. On 3 January 1996, a delegation
of the Russian Orthodox Church visited the Ecumenical
Patriarchate in Istanbul for bilateral negotiations
about the division among the Orthodox in Estonia. No
agreement was reached, but the two sides agreed upon
the continuation of the negotiations in Moscow on 2
February of the same year. On 4 January 1996, the Ecumenical
Patriarch sent a pastoral letter «to the Orthodox communities
in Estonia», in which he expressed his desire to «reactivate»
the Autonomous Estonian Apostolic Church on the basis
of the Tome (or decision) of the Ecumenical Patriarch
in 1923. The letter expressed the hope to unite all
in one church with a distinct diocese for the Russian-speaking
parishes. On 16 January 1996, a delegation from the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, including one Finnish Orthodox
bishop and one priest, visited Estonia in an attempt
to reach a viable solution. They meet with representatives
of the Moscow Patriarchate and the Estonian State authorities,
including Prime Minister Tiit Vähi and the President
Lennart Meri. After the meeting, statements were issued
that the Ecumenical Patriarchate would accept Estonian
Orthodox believers under its jurisdiction, but that
it would also accept the division of the Orthodox community
in Estonia into two parts and their belonging to two
jurisdictions. On 22 February 1996, the Ecumenical Patriarchate
announced officially the decision to reactivate the
Tome of 1923 and to re-establish the Autonomous Estonian
Apostolic Church. The official statement of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate is actually the following : The Ecumenical
Patriarchate proceeded with this decision following
the persistent request of the Estonian Government and
the overwhelming majority of the Estonian Orthodox parishes,
which requested they be placed again under the aegis
of the Ecumenical Patriarchate [...] in 1945 the Autonomous
Church of Estonia was unilaterally and forcibly abolished
by the Patriarchate of Moscow, following the annexation,
under the might of weapons, of Estonia to the Soviet
Union [...] Having regained political independence as
a country, the reinstitution of the Autonomous Church
of Estonia [...] constituted a just request of the Estonian
Orthodox. To this just request the Mother Church, the
Ecumenical Patriarchate, out of a sense of responsibility
and by canonical and historical right, was duty-bound
to respond with compassion to their request and in their
defense. On 24 February 1996, a delegation of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate, led by Metropolitan Joachim of Chalcedon,
concelebrated the Divine Liturgy with Estonian clergy
and in the presence of Archbishop John of Finland in
a parish in Tallinn. That act marked the reactivating
of the Autonomous Estonian Apostolic Church. On the
same day, the Chief Secretariat of the Synod of the
Ecumenical Patriarchate issued an official statement.
In that statement, it was announced that Archbishop
John of Karelia and All Finland, Primate of the neighboring
Orthodox Church of Finland, had been assigned as Provisional
Head of the Estonian Orthodox Church. «Archbishop John
will oversee the restructuring of the Metropolitanate
ad referendum to the Ecumenical Patriarchate, which
will then proceed with the election and installation
of the canonical hierarchs of the Metropolitanate» announced
the statement. In the year 1998 bishop Symeon of Abydos
was ordained to be an auxiliary bishop with pastoral
and liturgical functions. Unfortunately he passed away
in September of the same year. The preparation of the
General Assembly reached the stage where a preliminary
assembly (Congress) was convoked in March the 9th 1999.
On this assembly there was a voting for the candidate
of the Metropolitan, and bishop Stephanos of Nazianzus
was strongly supported by the clergy and laity of the
Church. After this the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate
elected bishop Stephanos as the Metropolitan of Tallinn
and all Estonia. The enthronement of the new Metropolitan
took place on March the 21st 1999 after which the Metropolitan
begun to prepare the General Assembly of the Church.
The General Assembly took place on the 21st of June
this year and the organs of the Church, the Synod (Church
Administration) and the Auditing Committee were elected
there. Also the Metropolitan announced the names of
the vicars general and his secretariat. Today the Synod
under the leadership of the Metropolitan and the Church
organs has begun a serious work inside the Church and
co-operation with the State of Estonia.
b)
THE CURRICULUM VITAE OF METROPOLITAN STEPHANOS
Metropolitan
Stephanos (Christakis Charalambides) was born in Bukavu
(then Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of
Congo) on April the 29th 1940 from parents of orthodox
Cypriot Greeks. In 1959 he finished the college of «Notre-Dame
de la Victoire». After this, he studied a year at the
medical faculty in Louvain, Belgium, but feeling a clerical
vocation he entered the St. Sergius Theological Institute
(Paris) in 1960. At the same time he studied at the
theological faculty in Sorbonne University, specializing
on the ancient Fathers of the Desert. He graduated from
the Institute as Master of Theology and got the degree
of lector from the University. His master thesis concerned
the diaconate in the Church.. He was ordained a deacon
on January the 6th, 1963 and a priest on November the
17th, 1968. In 1972 he was nominated protosynkellos
(general Episcopal vicar) of South France and in March
the 25th 1987 he was ordained the Bishop of Nazianzus
(a vicar bishop of the Metropolitan of Paris ; his real
residence was in Nice). He has been a secretary of the
Conference of Orthodox Bishops in France, the chairman
of the media commission of the Orthodox Churches in
France, the producer of the Orthodox programs in French
television and radio. He has been the representative
of the French Metropolis and the Ecumenical Patriarchate
on various international meetings in France, Serbia,
Spain, Switzerland, Russia and Finland. He has written
numerous theological articles and books that have been
translated into Greek, Italian, Spanish and Rumanian
and has been the editor of two journals in Southern
France. For thirty years he has been the person responsible
for the youth work of the Metropolis of France and also
for the acceptance of the smaller marginal groups into
the Church. He has been a lector at St. Sergius Theological
Institute and from 1990 up to 1999 a professor of patrology
at the Catholic Seminary of Nice. He has given lectures
at the faculty of law of the University of Nice about
the geopolitical role of the Orthodox Church and at
the University of Montpellier on the spiritual tradition
of Byzantium. He has worked a lot with the students
and aided the Greek students during the military dictatorship
in Greece and the Cypriot students at the beginning
of the Turkish occupation in Northern Cyprus. He has
made a wide social work with the unemployed, the drug
addicts, the prisoners and the prostitutes. He has participated
actively in the ecumenical cooperation in Southern France
and Spain. He has done much for the integration of the
Orthodox into the French society and has opened 12 parishes
and 4 monasteries which consist of Orthodox of French
origin.
c)
THE ECCLESIASTICAL ADMINISTRATION
1.-
ADMINISTRATION
A.
THE METROPOLITAN
His
Eminence Metropolitan Stephanos (Charalambides) of Tallinn
and all Estonia, Address : Wismari 32, 10136 Tallinn,
Estonia Tel/fax : +3726600781 ; E-Mail : Stefanus@eoc.ee
