Nuns at a Russian Orthodox monastery are in an ongoing dispute with the Estonian government over a new law requiring them to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Kremlin is using nuns at a remote monastery in the Baltic region to spread pro-Russian propaganda as part of its hybrid war against Europe.
The Telegraph newspaper reported this, citing the Estonian government.
Estonian officials say the Pyukhtitsa Monastery in eastern Estonia is spreading a pro-Putin narrative that religious freedoms in the West are under threat.
Nuns at a Russian Orthodox monastery are in an ongoing dispute with the Estonian government over a new law that requires them to sever ties with the Moscow Patriarchate, a supporter of the war against Ukraine.
The monastery's abbess, Abbess Filareta Kalatchova, accused the Estonian government of trying to force it to abandon its “neutral position on geopolitical issues.”
Position of the Estonian government
Estonia's Interior Ministry denies the monastery's neutrality and claims it is part of a subtle “Russian information war” campaign.
“The monastery should be seen not just as a religious institution, but also as a symbol of the ideology of the 'Russian world' on Estonian soil – an ideology promoted by the Russian state and the Moscow Patriarchate, which combines religion, nationalism and imperial nostalgia,” senior Estonian government official Martin Tulit told The Telegraph.
He also recalled that the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill (Gundyaev), who actively supports Putin’s war against Ukraine, personally appointed the current abbess in 2011. Since then, she has expressed narratives that portray Estonian history through a prism closely linked to Russia’s official position.
The Estonian government also denies that it is trying to close the monastery with the new law, as the nuns suggest.
“The changes will mean that the convent will no longer be able to function as a legal entity with special privileges under Estonian law if it remains subordinate to Moscow. It can still function as a religious community, although without the privileges of a religious association,” Martin Tulit explained.
What the Abbess of the Monastery Says
In an interview with The Telegraph, Abbess Filareta Kalatcheva vehemently denied any links between her monastery and pro-Moscow activism and insisted that her nuns wished only to lead lives of quiet contemplation and prayer.
Asked why the monastery could not join another Orthodox church, such as Constantinople, she said that would be a violation of canonical rules. “The main requirement of this law is the severance of canonical ties with the Russian Orthodox Church,” she said, adding that it would be “the sin of schism.”
In fact, the Estonian law at the center of the dispute prohibits churches from having ties to any group that “incites, supports or finances activities aimed at the violent change of the independence, territorial integrity or constitutional order of the Republic of Estonia.
The Moscow Patriarchate is considered one such group due to its outspoken support for the invasion of Ukraine.
Let us recall that recently a court in Estonia sentenced Tallinn resident Svetlana Burtseva, who collaborated with propagandists of the Russian media holding Russia Today.
