Metropolitan Stefanos of Tallinn spoke on ERT state radio about the situation of Orthodoxy in Estonia, relations with the Russian population, and how the war in Ukraine affects the daily lives of Estonians.
As he emphasized, most Orthodox believers in Estonia are Estonians and Russians, “who were here before Stalinism and continued to stay with us. Just so you know, our Church became autonomous in 1923, following a decision by the Ecumenical Patriarchate. And by 1925, it had about 200,000 believers, while Estonia then had a population of 1 million.
It grew even further, with 180 clergymen and 133 parishes. Unfortunately, however, the country endured the adventure of Stalinism for 50 years.”
When Metropolitan Stefanos assumed leadership of the Church in 1999, he found only about 7,000 Orthodox Estonians remaining.
“Only five or six parishes had any life, because under Stalinism the Russian Church abolished our Church, slowly closed our parishes, seized our churches to make its own propaganda, carried out population exchanges, and brought in enough Russians to claim minority rights, saying it had a large minority. This is the history of our Church,” he said.
He stressed that in order for the world to understand the course of Orthodoxy in Estonia, it must first know its history: “When Stalinism was imposed, 90% of the people were Christian—mainly Orthodox and Lutheran. Today, only 40% are Christians, with the Orthodox forming the majority. This is because we remain faithful to religious life. We do not interfere in other matters, and that is what people want. We must understand this, because from 1945 onwards there was Stalinism. It is not fair to say that Estonians do not believe, because we often fail to account for the consequences of this entire Stalinist period,” Metropolitan Stefanos explained.
On relations between Estonians and Russians living in the country, he admitted: “They are not the best, and this is reflected in religion. And it is my great sadness.”
He explained that the Russian minority in Estonia was the result of communist policies: “They exchanged populations, as they did everywhere, in Georgia, in Romania and Moldova, in Ukraine, here, and in other Baltic countries. Along Russia’s borders with these countries, the Russians expelled the natives and brought in their own, in order to create minorities. And this minority is constantly under pressure. The Moscow Patriarchate does not allow them to have contact with us. We want this contact, we have made many proposals, we have extended many hands of cooperation. Unfortunately, they block them with great fanaticism. And it is my great sadness.”
He underlined that unity would give them great strength: “United we are very strong. We are the largest religion in Estonia, with 178,000 faithful, while the Lutherans number 160,000. But unfortunately, there is this strategy, this policy, to block all contact with us in order to justify claims that their minority must be ‘protected’, exactly what they are doing in Ukraine today.”
Metropolitan Stefanos also revealed that many in the Russian minority, being poor, often turn to the Estonian Orthodox Church to perform sacraments such as funerals, weddings, and baptisms.
“They come to us because the Russian Church demands large sums of money for sacraments. We perform them for free. And we never discriminate, whether they are Russian, Estonian, Chinese, whoever they may be. Our doors are always open. We help where we can. We never act against our Russian brothers and sisters. And if a clergyman publicly acts against the Russians, he is suspended for three months. We maintain a peaceful attitude, we live and march together in this country, and there is no place for such discrimination. I hope that one day the Russians will understand this too.”
Regarding the situation in Estonia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Metropolitan Stefanos noted with concern:
“The world is worried. Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill have repeatedly stated that after Ukraine, the Baltic countries will be next. We remain silent and optimistic, but in our hearts there is concern. May God help us not to experience war here. And above all, may the war in Ukraine come to an end—may God help its people.”
