Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church

The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church ( Eesti Apostlik - Õigeusu Kirik ) is the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Opel under -standing Orthodox Church in Estonia.

History

In Lutheran since the Reformation Estonia, the Orthodox faith had spread to the Tsarist Empire by immigration of Russians, but also among the Estonians during the affiliation. After the independence of Estonia, the Orthodox communities of the country were released from the Moscow Patriarchate in 1923 and placed under the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Ecumenical Patriarch.

When Estonia after the Second World War, part of the Soviet Union, the Orthodox state church in 1944, in fact again subordinated to the Moscow Patriarchate, which was legitimized in 1978 by Konstantin Opel. The Estonian Orthodox Church continued to exist only in exile.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the re -establishment of independence, the Orthodox Estonians sought to restore their national church and its governmental and ecclesiastical recognition. This was taken in 1993, however. Against the resistance of the Moscow Patriarchate, which almost led to a schism Finally, it was found as a compromise the current rules under which decide the Orthodox parishes in Estonia for themselves whether they want to be under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate or of the Estonian Orthodox Church. This decision is usually taken in accordance with the linguistic and ethnic affiliation of the majority of community members.

Current head of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church is the Metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia Stephanos ( Charalambides ).