Gallery: Kuremäe Convent nuns deliver petition to Riigikogu
Nuns from the Russian orthodox Kuremäe Convent submitted a petition to the Riigikogu on Monday rejecting the Ministry of Interiors' plans to introduce a new law that would push them to leave the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPEÕK).
Before handing over the petition and its signatures, Abbess Filareta Kalachova of the Kuremäe Convent – also known as the Pühtitsa convent – said the nuns' wish is to live in the convent in peace until the end of their days, remaining faithful to the vow they took when they joined the monastery.
"We are Russian Orthodox nuns; it is not within our power to choose under whose jurisdiction the convent belongs. Our right to decide anything ended when we dedicated our lives to being nuns," she said.
The nuns had planned to hand the petition to Speaker of the Riigikogu Lauri Hussar (Eesti 200) on Monday. However, as the meeting had not been officially coordinated in advance, it was received by the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee Andre Hanimägi (SDE).
Earlier this month, Abbess of Kuremäe Convent Filareta Kalatšova sent an open letter to members of the Riigikogu, claiming that if the amendments to the Churches and Congregations Act, initiated by the Ministry of the Interior, are approved, the convent will effectively be shut down.
Martin Tulit, head of the Religious Affairs and Civil Society Department at the Ministry of the Interior, said the reality is different. No one intends to close the convent through these legislative changes.
The Ministry of the Interior hopes the almost year-long saga with the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (MPEÕK) will be resolved by summer after it submitted new legislation to the Riigikogu last month. It wants the church to leave the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate.
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Editor: Helen Wright
