Estlands Verteidigungsstreitkräfte planen aus Kostengründen die Zahl ihrer Mitarbeitenden um 200 Personen zu reduzieren. Die geplanten Entlassungen betreffen das 40-köpfige Orchester und die Militärseelsorge. Die beiden Bereiche zusammen machen etwa 10 Prozent des Kürzungsbedarfs aus. Von den aktuell rund zehn Militärseelsorgern sollen nur zwei bleiben. Die Befürworter der Sparmaßnahme führen eine Umfrage an, laut der nur 3,3 Prozent der Wehrpflichtigen die Militärseelsorge in Anspruch genomm...

Vor 75 Jahren wurde in Tallinn das Theologische Institut der Estnischen Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (EELK) gegründet. Im August 1940 hatten die sowjetischen Behörden die Jahrhunderte alte lutherische Theologische Fakultät an der Universität Tartu geschlossen. Sie konnte auch während der deutschen Besatzung nicht wiedereröffnet werden, obwohl die Ausbildung de facto weiterging. Um nach dem Zweiten Weltkrieg die Ausbildung lutherischer Geistlicher zu gewährleisten, gründete das Konsistorium...

Having suffered under the heavy yoke of communism in the 20th century, the Estonian land also offered up its faithful hierarchs, clergy, and faithful to the Lord, and, at its recent session, the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople resolved to include 8 new names among the ranks of the Estonian New Martyrs. The New Martyrs, who gave their lives for the Lord between 1944 and 1955, were canonized by Constantinople at the proposal of the Holy Synod of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox ...

In his congratulations to Orthodox Christians on January 6, Tallinn mayor Taavi Aas said he believes that January 7, Old Calendar Nativity, should be celebrated as a public holiday in Estonia, reports the site of the Tallinn city administration. “January 7, or the first day of Nativity on the Orthodox calendar should be a day off and a public holiday because the Orthodox want to spend their feast day honorably,” the capital city mayor said. “The Orthodox are the largest group of believers in ...

Bei einem ökumenischen Jugendtreffen in Estland hat Papst Franziskus heikle Themen angesprochen und ein institutionelles Versagen der Kirche eingeräumt. In den Augen vieler Jugendlicher hätten Kirchenvertreter ihre Glaubwürdigkeit verloren. Zudem lösten Missbrauchs- und Finanzskandale, die nicht klar verurteilt würden, Empörung aus, sagte Franziskus in der lutherischen Karlskirche in Tallinn.

A pious, 200-year tradition was continued on Sunday in Estonia when scores of faithful pilgrims gathered to process in honor of the Most Holy Theotokos on before feast of her holy Dormition.The procession moves from the St. Elias Skete of Pukhtitsa Monastery in Vasknarva to Pukhtitsa Monastery itself, covering a distance of 20.5 miles, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists, with reference to the site of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. The faithful carried Pukhtits...

On 29 May 2018, the Synod of the Estonian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate held an extraordinary session at the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky in Tallinn with the view of electing the Primate of the Estonian Church. As the result of the secret vote, Archbishop Yevgeny of Vereya, vicar of His Holiness the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, chairman of the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church, rector of the Moscow theological schools, was elected Primate of the Eston...

Tallinn authorities have allocated 180'000 euros ($215'500) towards the restoration of the Church of the Nativity of the Theotokos (Kazan Church) in the Estonian capital city, the mayor’s press service reported yesterday, according to RIA-Novosti. The agreement on the allocation of funds was signed by parish rector Victor Melnik and Tallinn City Council Chairman Mikhail Kilvart. According to the plan, the restoration work on the Kazan Church, as it is known by the people, will be completed by...

The XXX General Synod of the EELC decided at its meeting on November 29, 2017 to accept congregations that used to belong to the EELC Diocese Abroad (as of July 16, 2017) into the EELC as diaspora congregations. The General Synod of the EELC also decided to form a EELC North-American diaspora deanery to replace North-American deanery. „Due to the global reunification, the boundaries of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church are no longer determined by the territory of our state. This was th...