Religion in Estonia

General overview

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia, everyone has freedom of conscience, religion and thought. Membership of church or religious associations is voluntary. There is no state church.

The Churches and Congregations Act (adopted in 1993) and the Not-for-Profit Associations and Unions Act (passed in 1994) regulate the activities of religious associations. The constitutions of churches and religious associations are registered according to these laws by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Board of Religious Affairs keeps the Estonian Church Register up-to-date.

Today's religious picture in Estonia is a mosaic of different faiths and denominations. Along with traditional Christian churches which have functioned in Estonia for centuries, many new religious movements have appeared.

The earliest known printed work in the Estonian language is an 11-page excerpt from a catechism published in 1535 in Wittenberg, in which Estonian was used alongside German. In 1686 the New Testament was translated into the southern Estonian dialect. 6000 copies of the first complete Estonian language Bible were published in 1739.

In the following summary, different denominations will be treated primarily in the order in which they were established in Estonia.

The Roman Catholic Church in Estonia

The Christian Church is most likely to have arrived in Estonia before 1054 (the year of the Great Schism).

Of early Western Christian attempts to influence Estonians, the missionary work of Fulco stands out. He was named the apostle of the Estonians and in 1165 became the bishop of the Estonians.

Estonia was christianised by the middle of the 13th century, through the crusades and other coercive methods. Bishop Albert and the Order of the Sword Brethren combined forces so that the knights of the Order could conquer the land and the priests could baptise the people.

Eventually, monks and nuns from newly founded monasteries were able to reach out to the people. Different Orders such as Dominicans and Cistercians were present. Beggar monks were eager to preach throughout the parishes.

In the 17th century, when Estonia came under the sovereignty of Sweden, systematic ordering of life under the Lutheran Church began and the Catholic Church was practically expelled from Estonia.

Only in the second half of the 18th century did Catholic congregations re-emerge in Estonia. They were, nevertheless, comprised mostly of foreigners. The first post-Reformation Catholic church building was completed in Tallinn in 1844.

Between 1918 and 1940, questions relating to the Catholic Church were dealt with by the Apostolic Visitator Dr. Antonio Zecchini. At his recommendation, the Catholic Church in Estonia was separated as an apostolic administration independent from the Bishopric of Riga. Monsignor Zecchini himself became the first apostolic administrator in the Republic of Estonia.

According to the census of 1934, there were 2327 Roman Catholics in Estonia (if we include Polish foreign workers, the total was about 5000). In 1937, there were 11 Catholic priests.

In December 1936, Estonian Catholics ordained their own bishop - the German Jesuit Eduard Profittlich.

During the Soviet occupation, the Estonian Catholic Church was united with the Riga Bishopric.

Since 1992, the apostolic administrator in Estonia has been Archbishop Justo Mullor Garcia (Bishop of Tallinn).

According to the Article 19 of the Law on Churches and Congregations, the Roman Catholic Church in Estonia, unlike other confessions, functions in accordance with a contract with the Holy See. The text of the agreement will be co-ordinated by the Pope's Nuncio, the Estonian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Internal Affairs' Board of Religious Affairs.

There are seven Catholic congregations on the Estonian Church Register. As well as these congregations, there are two orders of nuns and one of monks:

In 1994, Bishop Garcia appointed Father Guy Barbier de Courtaix his personal representative in Estonia.

The Catholic periodical "Kiriku Elu" (Church Life) was started in 1933, banned by the Soviet authorities in 1940, and re-established in 1989. There are also two publications for children, "Agnus Dei" and "Agnellus".

The Orthodox Church in Estonia

The first information about the existence of Orthodox congregations in Estonia dates back to 1030. Until the Great Northern War (1700-21), the Orthodox Church was either repressed or supported depending on the organisation of the religious life of the ruling power at the time in Estonia. In the 18th century, Estonian Orthodox believers belonged to the Pskov Diocese. When the Riga Diocese was established in 1850, Estonians were also included. Thus began, the systematic ordering of Orthodox life in Estonia.

Until 1917, the Estonian orthodox were subordinate to the 'shepherds of souls', not one of whom was Estonian. In 1917, Platon (Paul Kulbusch) was the first ethnic Estonian to be ordained Bishop of Riga and Vicar of Tallinn. Two years later, Platon was murdered for political reasons by the Bolsheviks.

The first Estonian Apostolic Orthodox plenum took place in 1919. It was decided that the Church would be independent but remain in contact with other Orthodox congregations within the Eastern Church.

In the following year, the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Tikhon, recognised the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAOC) as independent. Archbishop Aleksander was elected and ordained for life as the head of the EAOC. He turned to the Patriarch of Constantinople to receive canonical recognition.

On 7 July 1923 Meletios IV, Archbishop of Constantinople and New Rome and Patriarch of Ecumene, issued a tomos in which the EAOC was canonically subordinated to the Patriarchate of Constantinople.

In 1938, there were 183 clerics in the EAOC: three elected bishops, 55 high priests, 95 priests and 30 deacons. There was a monastery in Petseri, two convents in Narva and Kuremäe, a priory in Tallinn and a seminary in Petseri. There was a Chair of Orthodoxy in the Faculty of Theology at the University of Tartu.

Just before the second Soviet occupation in 1944, the Head of the Church, Metropolitan Aleksander went into exile, along with 22 clergymen and thousands of Orthodox believers.

During the first year of the second period of Soviet occupation, in March 1945, an authorised representative of the Patriarchate of Moscow dismissed the members of the EAOC Synod who had remained in Estonia and established a new organisation - the Diocesan Council. Pavel (Dmitrovski), who did not speak Estonian, was named Bishop of Tallinn and All Estonia.

Orthodox believers in occupied Estonia were now subordinated to a diocese within the Russian Orthodox Church.

According to the statute of 1935, the EAOC Synod retained statutory continuity in exile. As a result, on 11 August 1993, it was possible to re-register the statute of the EAOC according to the Law on Churches and Congregations. The Chairman of the Synod is High Priest Nikolai Suursööt. In the same year, the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Alexius II, issued a tomos in which it was noted that the Estonian Orthodox Church led by Bishop Kornelius would remain under the Moscow Patriarchate. Bishop Kornelius had led the Diocese which was subordinate to the Patriarchate of Moscow from 1990. In 1995 he was appointed Archbishop.

Whereas the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church, which is subordinate to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, re-registered its documents in 1993 according to the Churches and Congregations Act, the Diocese under the Patriarchate of Moscow remains unregistered to this day. Instead, the Diocesan government headed by Archbishop Kornelius has tried to establish itself as the legal successor to the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. If it were successful, it would obtain title to all church property confiscated on 16 June 1940 and subsequently, in accordance with the provisions of the Property Reform Act of 1991, the property must now be returned. Despite judicial proceedings on all levels up to the National Court, the church headed by Bishop Kornelius has not been granted the right to use the name of the EAOC, or title to its property.

On 20 February 1996, Bartholomeos, The Patriarch of Constantinople, renewed the tomos granted to the EAOC in 1923. On 24 February 1996 Johannes, The Archbishop of Karelia and All Finland, was appointed acting Locum Tenens in matters concerning the EAOC.

Of the congregations operating in Estonia, 39 are on the Estonian Church Register and 20 more have presented applications. About 30 congregations have expressed their wish to preserve their ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Pühtitsa (Pukhtitsa) Dormition Convent in Kuremäe, established in 1891, has also expressed a wish to be canonically subordinated to the Patriarch of Moscow.

The newspaper of the EAOC is "Usk ja Elu" (Faith and Life), and it has been published since the 1930s.

High Priest Emmanuel Kirss, Priest Aivar Sarapik and layman Henn Tosso established the EAOC Fund in 1991 to support the activities of the EAOC. The main goals of the Fund are school activities, the publication of theological materials, the creation of a church database, social work and patronage.

The Estonian Orthodox Youth Association has been created to develop church youth activity and co-operates with the international organisation "Syndesmos" (The World Orthodox Youth League).

The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church

The first advocates of reformational ideas in Estonia operated primarily in the larger towns. The renunciation of the Catholic faith and institutionalisation of the new faith involved a power struggle, which, in some cases, developed into the plundering of churches.

The Diet of Volmar in 1544 decided to recognise the principle of freedom of faith. The representative of the Master of the Livonian Order also signed the treaty of Augsburg in 1555. Since then, the Lutheran Church has been by far the largest and most influential church in Estonia.

Johannes Rudbeckius, Bishop of Västerås, who came to Estonia at the beginning of the Swedish era to conduct a visitation, immediately started to organise Estonian church life consistently and systematically. He established a consistory in Tallinn and developed strict church discipline.

In Sweden in 1686, the Law on Churches was passed which, with some alterations, came into force in Estonia in 1694.

During the Northern War, the nobility of Estonia obtained from the Russian Government considerable rights and privileges, also concerning questions of church life. Only in 1832 was the question of the independence of clergy from the gentry resolved by the new church law issued by Tsar Nikolai I.

A popular church which no longer had the status of a state church was born in September 1919, when, amidst the turmoil of momentous historical events (the overthrow of the Tsarist regime, and the proclamation of the independent Republic of Estonia), the Second Congress of Churches took place.

The meetings of church representatives which followed the congress were called the Church Diet. At the first Church Diet of 1920 in Tartu, Jakob Kukk was elected Bishop-for-life.

According to the national census of 1934, there were 874 026 Evangelical Lutherans in Estonia (of a total population of 1 126 413). In the autumn of 1944, tens of thousands of Lutherans fled to the West from the approaching Red Army; among them were over 70 clerics.

Despite difficult times in Estonia, church life still continued. An important moment was the election of Jaan Kiivit as Archbishop during a special session of the Church Council in 1949. In 1958 the Archbishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in exile, Johan Kõpp, restored all the legal church organs abroad by the power of attorney granted to him in 1943. According to statistics there were 67 congregations (with 59 clerics) abroad in 1993. Today, there are 166 congregations, which are divided into 12 deaneries, in the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Since 1994, Jaan Kiivit (Jr.) has been the Archbishop of the EELC. There are (as of 31 December 1994) over 172,000 Church members, led by 143 clerics, including five female clerics.

Sixteen subordinate offices have official status within the church, including the Estonian Seamen's Mission, the Sunday School Union, the Theological Institute, the Church Music School, the Deaconal Centre, several deaconal stations and others.

Their periodical publication, the newspaper "Eesti Kirik" (which was first printed in 1924), was restarted in 1990.

The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church is one of the founding members of the Council of Estonian Churches, which is directed by a president, Einar Soone, an EELC Bishop.

On an international level, the EELC belongs to the Conference of European Churches (since 1959), the World Council of Churches (since 1961) and the Lutheran World Federation (since 1963).

The Estonian Evangelical Moravian Congregation

The Moravian congregations played a very important role in the development of Estonian national culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Moravian movement strongly influenced moral and religious sentiments of Estonians. The Estonian Evangelical Moravian Church, which considers its year of foundation as 1729, is an independent Christian-Pietistic communion organisation, based on the teachings of the Bible, the Augsburg Confession of Faith and the Sacraments of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Moravian Congregation is a movement within the Lutheran Church, and does not have a separate clergy.

The main goals of its activities are to assist the Lutheran Church in the promulgation of evangelical work, spiritual guidance and in deaconal work.

Today, about 100 people belong to the Moravian Congregation. A Synod of the Moravian Congregation meets at least once a year, and a governing body is elected. Osvald Reier, a Head Elder since 1990, directs the congregation's cooperative work during the Synodic period.

Since 1992, Estonia has been a member of the European Evangelical Moravian Congregation-Synod and thus belongs automatically to the World Moravian Unity.

The Union of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches of Estonia

The Baptist movement appeared in Estonia at the end of the 19th century. The first 14 Baptists were baptised in 1884 and the first small congregations were established in Haapsalu, Kärdla, Tallinn and Pärnu.

The actual establishment of the Free Congregation of Evangelical Christians in Estonia took place in 1919. According to the 1934 national census, there were 228 Evangelical Christians registered in Estonia.

The first Pentecostal congregation in Estonia was established in 1925 in Tallinn. At their meetings they hope, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to be granted the gifts of speaking tongues and the healing of the sick.

The free congregations registered their association in 1934 under the name of the Union of Estonian Evangelical Religious Unions of Jesus Christ. Steps were taken towards the unification of Baptists and Free Congregations.

By order of the Soviet authorities in 1945 Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals, and Free Churches were united. Until 1989, the union was not independent - it was part of the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptists in the Soviet Union.

Today, the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptist Churches of Estonia includes, on a voluntary basis, Baptists, Evangelical Christians, Pentecostals, Free Churches and other congregations which accept the belief in the Holy Trinity and whose faith and activity is in accordance with the Old and New Testaments.

The Union is a co-ordinating association, and its highest directive organ is the Conference. Between conferences, the leadership deals with questions concerning the Union and their work is co-ordinated by a president. A member belonging to a congregation within the Union can be elected president if he has theological training and has served as a pastor for at least five years.

Since 1992 the President of the Union has been Joosep Tammo.

Eighty-seven congregations belong to the Union, with about 6500 members.

The Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptist Churches of Estonia is a founding member of the Council of Estonian Churches. Since 1993 the Union has belonged to the World Baptist Union and since 1990 to the European Baptist Federation. The Union also published the periodicals "Teekäija" (Wayfarer), "Mutrid ja Poldid" (Nuts and Bolts) and "Päikesekiir" (Sunbeam).

The Estonian Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists

The teachings of the Seventh Day-Adventists first reached Estonia at the end of the last century, and the first congregation was created in Tallinn in 1897.

The Estonian Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists was founded in 1920 and now unites 18 congregations throughout Estonia.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Estonia is part of the Baltic Union of Seventh-Day Adventists, which in turn belongs to the international organisation, the General Conference - Trans-European Division.

Altogether, there are about 2000 people (13 clergymen) belonging to congregations within the Union.

The Seventh-Day Adventist Church is one of the founding members of the Council of Estonian Churches, but since 1993 has only had the status of observer.

Tõnu Jugar has been the Chairman of the Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists since 1992.

The United Methodist Church in Estonia

The Methodist movement was started in Estonia in 1907 in Kuressaare (Saaremaa).

The annual conference of the United Methodist Church in Estonia is the highest legal and organisational body, according to whose statutes, a bishop is elected as the highest clerical leader.

At the same time, the statutes state that the election of a local bishop cannot take place until the total membership of the Church reaches 25 000.

Currently, there are 1842 full and 92 trial members in the Church. Until a bishop is elected, the members of the parsonage elect a superintendent for a period of three years.

Olav Pärnamets has been the Superintendent of the UMC in Estonia since 1979.

There are 22 clerics serving in the Church and 20 congregations belong to the Church.

The UMC is a founding member of the Council of Estonian Churches. The UMCE also belongs to the World Council of Churches, the World Methodist Council, the Council of European Churches, and the Northern Europe Central Conference.

The Methodist Church also publishes a periodical called "Koduteel" (On the Way Home).

The Estonian Christian Pentecostal Church

The first Pentecostal groups were formed in Estonia between 1910 and 1912; the denomination was officially registered in 1925.

At the beginning of the 1990s, three Estonian pastors from abroad - Allan Laur, Harry Leesment, Märt Vähi - co-ordinated the establishment of the Estonian Christian Church.

Following the adoption of the Law on Churches and Congregations, the church was registered as The Estonian Christian Pentecostal Church.

However, this organisation does not unite all Pentecostal movements. Many Pentecostal congregations operate independently, and several belong to the Union of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches of Estonia.

The Church is led by a collegial organ, the Council of Directors and a leader is selected from this body. Allan Laur has been the Director of the Council of Directors since 1994.

At present 35 congregations belong to the Church, and 25 congregations have submitted applications for registration. There are also 22 departments which are operating and may develop into congregations in the future. There are 56 clerics in congregational service, of whom 15 are female. Altogether, there are about 2500 members in the congregations.

The Church publishes the magazine "Valgus" (Light), which first appeared in 1924. Allan Laur has been the editor since 1983 (the magazine was then published in Toronto, Canada, but since 1994 it has been published in Estonia).

The denomination has been co-operating with: the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, the Assemblies of God - Australia, the Apostolic Church of Pentecost of Canada.

In Estonia, the Church is a member of the Bible Society, and many congregations have joined the Council of Estonian Christian Congregations and Associations.

The Union of Estonian Old Believer Congregations

In the middle of the 17th century, the Patriarch of Russia, Nikon, instigated a reform which divided both the Church and the people.

Today, it might be difficult to understand the extent of the problems that caused the split, but in Nikon's time in Russia, the influence of the changes was explosive. All believers who did not accept the reforms were placed under an interdict, from then on they were referred to as Old Believers.

Due mainly to persecution by the central authorities, the Old Believers of Russia were forced to find homes in the borderlands of the Russian Empire. The first accounts of the Old Believers arriving in Estonia date back to the end of the 17th century (from Mustvee, on the western coast of Lake Peipsi).

Today, there are 11 Old Believer congregations in Estonia, and as far as we know, the oldest is the congregation of Väike-Kolkja (established in 1710). There are about 10 000 Old Believers in Estonia today. The congregations are mainly located along the coast of Lake Peipsi, but also in Tallinn and Tartu; there are only five clergymen.

In 1994 the Old Believer congregations formed the Union of Old Believer Congregations, whose highest organ is the plenum. The plenum elects a governing body to carry out its decisions, and the chairman is currently Zosima Jotkin. In May 1995 the Union submitted its application to become a member of the World Council of Old Believers.

Data

As previously mentioned, the picture of religious life in Estonia is a mosaicof varied confessions. The following table gives an overview of the various religious movements including those not mentioned in the text above. The data represents the situation in 31 May 1996.

The figures here were supplied by the churches, congregations and unions of congregations and may differ from the actual figures.

Theological educational institutions in Estonia

In the summer of 1631, the Governor-General of Livonia, Johann Skytte, decided to develop the Tartu gymnasium into a full university.

The founding document was issued by the King of Sweden Gustavus II Adolphus on 30 June 1632. This gave Tartu University the same rights as Uppsala University. Four faculties were established at the University - Theology, Law, Medicine and Philosophy.

The Soviet authorities preserved the University in 1940 but abolished the theological department. In 1941 the German occupation forces did not allow the reopening of the theological department. The German authorities, however, granted permission to form a Theological Examination Commission at the Consistory. This provided an opportunity for the students to complete their degree.

After the Second World War, it was decided to continue theological schooling and the Examination Commission was formed into the Theological Institute of the EELC, which is operating to this day. A two-level educational system has developed at the Institute: studies in a five-year Faculty of Theology (which offers higher education) and a one-and-a-half year Department of Educational-Pastoral Studies (trains church workers and teachers of theology). The establishment of the third, a vicarial department, is currently in process. In the 1994-95 academic year, the Institute had 150 students. The Institute has been directed by acting rector Dr. Voldemar Ilja since 1995.

In 1991 the Faculty of Theology was reopened at Tartu University. It offers higher theological education, but does not automatically authorise the graduate to serve in the church. This situation will be resolved by developing co-operation between the University and the Institute. In the 1994-95 academic year, 110 students were enrolled at the Faculty of Theology at Tartu University.

Since 1989 the Theological Seminary of the Union of Evangelical Christian and Baptist Churches of Estonia has been training and improving the qualifications of their own church workers.

The origins of this educational institution date back to the year 1922, when the Estonian Baptist denomination founded a seminary for preachers. At present, the Theological Seminary offers two and four year programmes. Selected candidates may also take Master's degrees and Doctorates. In 1994-95 the Seminary had 43 students. Ermo Jürma has been the head of the Seminary since 1994.

A special Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church in 1994 decided to establish the Baltic Mission Centre Theological Seminary of the United Methodist Church in Estonia. The main aim of the Seminary is to provide a higher theological education, and to prepare clerics and professional workers for various Christian spheres of work. The seminary offers a practical one-year basic course, which is followed by three years of training. In 1994-95 there were 48 students enrolled at the Seminary, which has been directed by Rector Andrus Norak since 1994.

The Theological Academy of Tartu was established in 1992 as a private university. Christians of different denominations, who confess baptism, the confession of faith and Holy Communion can study the theological peculiarities of their own denomination. The Academy trains clerics (congregational-, hospital-, military-, prison- and youth clergy), teachers of Religious Education, deacons and deaconesses, Christian journalists and missionary workers. There were 87 students enrolled in the 1994-95 academic year. Professor Eenok Haamer has led the school since 1992.

The Estonian Christian Pentecostal Church Bible College opened its doors in 1994. The College's main aim after a year-long course is to produce pastors, founders of congregations and church workers. There were 35 students enrolled in the Bible College in 1994-95. Pastor Harry Leesment has headed the school since 1994.

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