Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate
| Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate | |
|---|---|
 
|
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| Founder | — |
| Independence | 1919 |
| Recognition | |
| Primate | Cornelius (Jakobs) of Tallinn and All Estonia |
| Headquarters | Tallinn, Estonia |
| Territory | Republic of Estonia |
| Possessions | — |
| Language | Russian |
| Members | 150,000 |
| Website | Church of Estonia - EOC-MP |
The Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (Moskva Patriarhaadi Eesti Õigeusu Kirik) is a semi-autonomous Church in the canonical jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Moscow whose primate is appointed by the Holy Synod of the latter. Its official name in English is the Estonian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate. This church numbers roughly 150,000 faithful in 31 congregations and is the largest Orthodox Church in Estonia.
The current primate of the church is Cornelius (Jakobs), Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia, since 1992.
Under Estonian law, the "Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church" (Eesti Apostlik-Õigeusu Kirik) is the legal successor to the pre-World War II Estonian Orthodox Church, which in 1940 had had over 210,000 faithful, three bishops, 156 parishes, 131 priests, 19 deacons, two monasteries, and a theological seminary, the majority of the faithful were ethnic Estonians. Its primate is confirmed by the Orthodox Church of Constantinople. The head of this church is Metropolitan Stephanos (Charalambides). This church numbers about 20,000 faithful in 60 congregations today.
The reactivation of the autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church caused the name of the Patriarch of Constantinople to be temporarily removed from the diptychs of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Orthodox missionaries from Novgorod and Pskov were active among the Estonians in the southeast regions of the area, closest to Pskov, in the 10th through 12th centuries. As a result of the Northern Crusades in the beginning of the 13th century, Estonia fell under the control of Western Christianity. However, Russian merchants were later able to set up small Orthodox congregations in several Estonian towns. One such congregation was expelled from the town of Dorpat (Tartu) by the Germans in 1472, who martyred their priest, Isidor, along with a number of Orthodox faithful (the group is commemorated on January 8).
Little is known about the history of the church in the area until the 17th and 18th centuries, when many Old Believers fled there from Russia to avoid the liturgical reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon of Moscow.
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Wikipedia