Ecumenical Patriarch Met with President and Prime Minister of Estonia

OCP News Service – 14/09/2023

Tallinn- Estonia: His Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew met Estonian President Alar Karis and Prime Minister Kaja Kallas on  12 September 2023. The visit was made during the centenary celebration of the Estonian Church Apostolic Orthodox (under the Ecumenical Patriarch).

According to the official statement:

“During the meeting with the president, His Holiness emphasized the role of the small Orthodox Church in Estonia, which has suffered a lot, and the importance of its existence, and expressed satisfaction with the development of the church, which was aimed at independence and self-realization both a hundred years ago and now.

President Alar Karis assured the patriarch of joint efforts to support Ukraine, and in his speech paid special attention to Estonia’s efforts to protect the environment, citing World Cleanup Day, which started in Estonia, as an example.

His Holiness also met with Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, with whom they share views on what is happening in Ukraine: the patriarch explicitly condemned the behavior of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in the war in Ukraine”.

Autonomus status under Ecumenical Patriarch was given to Estonian Church Apostolic Orthodox on 07 July 1923 by then Ecumenical Patriarch Meletius IV.

Source:

OCP News Service