Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 58(1-2), 85-104. doi: 10.2143/JECS.58.1.2017737 © 2006 by Journal of Eastern Christian Studies. All rights reserved.

CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS

THE BALTIC AREA Since the fall of the in 1991 the Baltic region underwent important changes, some for the better FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS* and some for the worse. Sometimes eye- catching but more often less pretentious How faired on the shores of architecture altered the skylines of 1 the Baltic Sea? To be sure, this is an , and Vilnius considerably. interesting subject of inquiry. First, tak- Though renovation and new construc- ing all different branches of Orthodoxy tion witness to a more healthy invest- together, it might indeed be true that ment climate, the is still far it is the largest Christian confession in from reaching its 1989 level. Due to the and . Second, the pres- integration of the Baltic region into ence of the Estonian and Latvian European and Transatlantic organisa- Autonomous Orthodox Churches, and tions the foreign press focussed intensely the eparchy of Vilnius and Lithuania, on the position of the large ethnic Russ- which profess allegiance to the Moscow ian minorities in Estonia and Latvia. In , was closely connected to the wake of this media coverage, the Russian tsarist expansionism. For that Estonian capital Tallinn was crowned reason, Churches and eparchy lay ‘prostitution centre of Europe’ and Narva embedded in a predominant, in the on the Russian/Estonian border the ‘ugli- recent past sometimes overtly hostile, est city of Europe’. Trafficking of women non-Russian cultural setting. Third, the linkage with the spiritual centre * F.J.M. (Frans) Hoppenbrouwers stud- Moscow remained strong over the last ied French and theology and specialised 15 years, but proved to be problem- in History at the University of atic. Because of the distance between Tilburg. He was a researcher on the pro- the Baltic societies on the one hand ject ‘Dutch Culture in a European Con- and the not so well integrated Russian text’ that was sponsored by the Nether- minority on the other, and because of lands Organisation for Scientific Research historic experience, everything Russian (NOW). Since 1995 he works for the or Soviet is being looked upon Dutch relief organisation Communi- unfavourably. Fourth, in their desire to cantes in Nijmegen which funds projects leave this past behind, indigenous as in the field of pastoral care and educa- well as ethnic Russian Orthodox broke tion for the Roman Catholic and the Greek Catholic Churches in Central and away from the Moscow Patriarchate in Eastern Europe. the 1990s. The Priestless ’ 1 This review of the Baltic region deals leadership in Latvia on the contrary primarily with the period 2002-2005. For established contacts with the Patriar- the years 1998-2001 see F. Hoppen- chate, thus creating discord among the brouwers, ‘Baltische landen’, CO, 53 faithful as well. (2001), pp. 242-255. 86 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS and very high suicide rates, for example, ulation, in Latvia 28 percent and in have been disconcerting phenomena of Lithuania 6 percent. The fear of foreign the transformation. The uneven distri- domination therefore remained strong bution of newly acquired wealth led to after 1990 and added to existing wor- greater differences among citizens, thus ries. But lacking a Tolstoy, a Malevich fuelling discontent. Gradually it dawned or a Shostakovich, a sense of cultural on the Balts that the change from an inferiority may play a role, too. ideological, totalitarian and stagnant The Russian minorities and their Eston- social order to a dynamic society of free ian, Latvian and Lithuanian neighbours individuals carries with it hazards as well often live in more or less separated as promises. worlds. The music they listen to, the The year 2004 was an eventful one. On television and radio channels they 2 April, the flags of Estonia, Latvia and choose, the news they read, and, in Esto- Lithuania were hoisted at the head- nia, the national party they vote for, quarters of the North Atlantic Treaty everything is different, form as well as Organisation (NATO) in Brussels. And, content. Therefore, the Balts ask them- during a solemn ceremony in Dublin selves: Could these former ‘occupants’, on 1 May, the Baltic countries joined who immigrated to the region in Soviet the European Union (EU) as well. The times, be some kind of fifth columnists? ‘New Europe’ is politically very much Opinion polls among non-citizens, for oriented towards the West, and, unlike instance, have repeatedly shown that the ‘Old Europe’, at least the Baltic gov- their support for NATO and EU fails to ernments have been keen supporters of reach the 50 percent mark. History still the interventions in Afghanistan and affects the emotional climate. While Iraq. Russian historiography, state officials and Patriarch Alexey II all alike depict Culture and Politics the Red Army soldiers as liberators to Because of its marginalisation in the which the Balts should pay respect, the tsarist and Soviet past and ever-increas- Baltic peoples themselves hold a differ- ing Europeanization, national identity ent opinion. They view them as the still is a major concern throughout post- spearhead of a genocidal regime that communist Central and Eastern Europe. indiscriminately deported and murdered This is especially the case with small ‘class enemies’, destroyed national cul- countries like Estonia, Latvia and ture and persecuted religion. Further- Lithuania, where very low fertility rates more, the old bear may have lost its induce fear of cultural and even physi- teeth, but it can still lash out mighty cal extinction.2 Since 1990, the Baltic claws. Since the tiny Baltic countries nations have been struggling for eco- nomic sovereignty from their Russian 2 L. Halman, R. Luijkx and M. van Zun- neighbour which itself is trying to keep dert, Atlas of European Values (Leiden, some grip on the region. In Estonia, 2005), p. 20. National pride in Lithuania ethnic Russian citizens and non-citizens is lowest in Europe, a bit more intense in make up about 25 percent of the pop- Estonia and quite outspoken in Latvia. THE BALTIC AREA 87 economically depend a great deal on A schism within Estonian Orthodoxy, their neighbour, the former superpower which remained without a solution for is able to keep a grip on the region. Rus- a long time, became a serious topic in sia now wields non-lethal weapons, but foreign relations. The Estonian govern- in the eye of many it remains an oppres- ment sided with the breakaway Church, sive and expansive force. while Russian President Boris Yeltsin Domestic and international politics very and his successor, Vladimir Putin, came much revolves around minority-rights to the support of the Moscow loyalists. issues. In both Latvia and Estonia, Russ- The Patriarch’s visit to Estonia was post- ian schools have had to introduce the poned over and over again during a ten- national tongue as part of the curricu- year period. He returned to visit his lum, and as a teaching language next to native country only after a formal set- Russian. Civil servants in Estonia must tlement in 2003. Within the Latvian fulfil specific language requirements and Orthodox Church tensions arose non-citizens need to pass a citizenship between ethnic Russian and Latvian cler- exam. The language skills required are gymen in the 1990s. In the eparchy of low among ethnic Russians, but then Vilnius and Lithuania a recent experi- again state policies lack financial and ment with a Lithuanian-language liturgy institutional support. ‘Mother ’ replacing Old turned voiced severe criticism, and at times the out to be a bridge too far for the rather Organization for Security and Co-oper- conservative, mostly ethnic Russian ation in Europe (OSCE) joined in. flock. World War II remains open to varying and controversial interpretations. The Health and Demography plaque of an Estonian SS soldier with The vital health and demographical sta- iconic Stahlhelm, Iron Cross and Mauser tistics quite exactly mirror the social, machinegun pointing east, which was economic, political and even emotional unvealed in Pärnu in 2002, not sur- situation. Thus, they provide some tan- prisingly provided the Russian govern- gible information concerning the inten- ment with an opportunity to insist once sity with which the Baltic population more on the tainted past of their ‘near experienced 15 years of post-commu- abroad’ neighbours.3 Still, the monu- nist transformation: these were trying ment clearly depicts the predicament in times. Great hopes and expectations pre- which the Baltics found themselves: ceded the 1990s, but they gave way to being eaten by wolves or by bears is all the same. The Soviet occupation in 1940 3 The Estonian and Latvian Waffen-SS and subsequent ‘liberation’ by Nazi Ger- divisions participated in the military cam- many in 1941 led many Balts to assume paigns on the Eastern front and had no a pro-German stance. involvement with the extermination of The nationality question also reflects on Eastern European Jews. However, indi- the appreciation of Orthodoxy and the vidual members, who previously acted as religious and national self-identification police auxiliaries, may have or actually of the Orthodox in the Baltic region. did. 88 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS disappointment about the changes there- AIDS took on epidemic proportions. after. It has been only from the second Between 2003 and 2004, the number of half of the 1990s that , registered HIV-infections grew tenfold and Lithuanians have begun in Estonia to 4,600 and tripled in Latvia, to feel that they have a better hold on reaching a peak at 3,033. Lithuania saw life. an increase of 215 percent to 840 cases Marriage and fertility rates, which had during the same period. This has resulted started to slide after 1989, were on their mainly from the use of intravenous way up again after 1994/1995 and con- drugs and from heterosexual prostitu- firmed a renewed hope that even the tion. After all, the attitude of Baltic Asian economic crisis (1998) could not society towards gay sex is not very quench. While cohabitation is on the becoming for individuals who allegedly increase and 50 percent of all marriages indulge a narcissist and hedonistic per- last only ten to eleven years, just one sonality. Meanwhile sexual enlighten- fifth of all Latvian newly-weds had their ment outside the family sphere and the union blessed in church.4 However, the advertising and usage of contraceptives, number of new-born Balts has been far however, incurred the wrath of ecclesi- too low to compensate for mortality and astical authorities. The mental health emigration. The case of a Vilnius of the Baltic region remains fragile. In mother, who recently gave birth to her 2002 the Lithuanians figured among fifteenth child, is indeed the very rare the most pessimistic people worldwide, exception to a very strict rule. In Esto- but a 2004 Gallup survey showed that nia the abortion figure dropped in 2004 they had become more optimistic about to 12,625, which is a little more than their future, and even a little more than one-third of that in 1970 and a similar their Latvian and Estonian neighbours.5 development could be observed in Nevertheless, when it comes to suicide Lithuania. Still, the abortion rate is high, Lithuania has been the world leader especially in post-Soviet countries. for more than a decade, with Estonia Thanks to educational programs about (4th) and Latvia (6th) in close pursuit. health risks of all sorts, the cases of sex- Suicide has been high ever since World ually transmitted diseases, dangerous War II, but the trend peaked in the driving, and smoking and drinking are mid-1990s and then remained at on the decline, but they are still higher roughly the same level the following than in the beginning of the 1990s. On the brink of the new millennium life 4 expectancy at birth had surpassed that The geographical distribution of church of the first years of independence. As a weddings seems to indicate that a Latvian ethnic background plays a decisive role. consequence, the Baltic region will soon 5 Researchers offered improvement of the be confronted with experience the hard economical situation, higher wages and facts of an ageing population as well. forthcoming EU membership as an expla- And, what is more, it will face the tough- nation. However, in this respect Lithua- est challenge of all EU countries over nia did not differ from the other two the next four decades. Baltic countries. THE BALTIC AREA 89 years.6 These facts are mind-boggling: Religious diversity has increased further every week dozens of Balts take their since the 1980s, when so-called New lives and this is year after year.7 Religious Movements (NRMs)10 started In spite of increased health problems, it must be clear that the change from 6 That is, based on data from 2002 and communism to a market economy has 2003. Quite remarkably most Central not significantly deteriorated real life and Eastern European countries are circumstances. The overall medical con- among the top twenty in the world. dition of the Balts is actually changing Female suicide is relatively high in most for the better. Yet even if World Health former Soviet republics. 7 Organization officials applaud the trans- The case of Lithuania shows how dif- formation of the health care system,8 it ficult it is to give clear-cut explanations. should be asked whether criteria like It was a rare phenomenon before 1940, religion is supposed to have a mitigating equal access to healthcare and afford- influence, alcohol abuse is not unique and ability have been met. economically the country fairs much bet- ter than Soviet republics, where suicide Religious Landscape9 seldom occurs. While there were centres of Orthodox 8 See for example ‘WHO evaluates a life here and there, the Lutheran Church decade of Estonia’s primary health care (Estonia and Latvia) and the Roman reform’, 5 January 2005; www.euro.who. (Lithuania and the int/eprise/main/WHO/Progs/CMA/press Latvian region of Latgallia) dominated notes/20050623_4 9 the Baltic region from the Middle Ages In September 2005 the author visited to World War II. A new, Orthodox Latvia and Lithuania and met with offi- flavour was added in the 17th century cial and less official representatives of the Latvian and Russian Orthodox Churches and onwards. The territories of present and of the Old Believers Church as day Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania well. Written sources: The Baltic Times became a sanctuary for the Priestless (2002-2006), Forum 18 News Service Old Believers (), who fled (www.forum18.org), Glaube in der 2. persecution by the tsarist authorities. In Welt, 30-33 (2002-2005), Irénikon, 75- the 18th and 19th centuries the Baltic 78 (2002-2005), Keston Institute News area was conquered by the Russian Channels (www.keston.org), Orthodoxie Empire and the Russian Orthodox Aktuell. Informationen aus der orthodoxen Church (ROC) engaged in Kirche (2001-2005), Radio Free Europe/ activities, while the state discriminated Radio Liberty (www.rferl.org), Russia against dominant religion, favoured con- Religion News, (www.stetson.edu/ ~psteeves/relnews) and Service Orthodoxe version and encouraged migration of de Presse 264-304 (2001-2006). See also ethnic Russians to the amber coast. F. Hoppenbrouwers, ‘Romancing Free- Next, , Jehovah’s Witnesses, dom. Church and Society in the Baltic Methodists and some rather small States after the Fall of the Berlin Wall’, Protestant communities found their way Religion, State & Society, 27 (1999), 2, to the region at the end of the 19th and pp. 162-173. the beginning of the 20th centuries. 10 NRMs are often referred to with the 90 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS to appear on the religious scene. With between traditional confessions either. about thirteen hundred self-declared In fact, is lingering. Surely, practitioners in Lithuania in 2001 and church leaders send each other Christ- twelve registered Dievturi communities mas and Easter greetings and on state in Latvia in 2004, the reinvention of occasions they stand next to their Ortho- paganism as an institutionalised indige- dox, Roman Catholic or Protestant nous religion has been quite remark- brothers or sisters, yet profound rela- able. Even though these modern-day tions or theological discussions are newcomers are not very successful extremely rare, at all levels. Here the numerically, they testify to the cultural same mechanism seems to be at work as differentiation process the Baltic region in the post-communist state building is going through. process. The different religious com- Where NRMs are concerned, it has munities are also passing through a become clear that the fall of the Iron period of emphatic identity seeking. Curtain did not induce an all-out inva- Hence, most of them exhibit a rather sion of dangerously persuasive sects. On inwardly oriented view, weak interest in the contrary, the issue has been grossly open debate, common language, or con- overstated. In Lithuania, for example, verging beliefs. The previously discussed many instances came under police or separation among ethnic subcultures secret service investigation, but all except plays its role, but the general decline of one failed to meet the legal criteria.11 A ecumenical fervour after 1990 has popular NRM is the so-called New Gen- affected the Baltic region as well. Com- eration Church of the Latvian Alexy mon action may be provoked, however, Ledayev, who can boast some three by current events like the terrorist attack thousand followers in Latvia and a few on the United States in 2001, when tens in Lithuania. Ledayev started off memorial services were organised, or by as a preacher of an extreme charismatic moral issues, as when the first ever Riga ‘prosperity gospel’ in the early 1990s, Gay Pride Parade on 23 July 2005 led but later turned to more mainstream to a multi-confessional protest. It had evangelical teachings.12 In recent years been framed in the question of gay mar- there has been much ado about the ris- riage, a no-go area in the conservative ing popularity of Satanism. Indeed, Latvian society, and mustered an unusual satanic or sacrilegious graffiti scar streets mix of religiously motivated demon- and graveyards, but as such they demon- strators, populist politicians, hardened strate first of all the bad taste of a youth subculture. Every now and then, how- ever, grave acts of vandalism occur. Dur- derogatory, vague and therefore mislead- ing label ‘sects’. ing the nights of 30 October and 1 11 Offences under the Penal Code, vio- November 2004, fifty-three crosses were lation of human rights, freedoms and torn from graves of Orthodox nuns at public safety. the Riga Pokrov cemetery. One of them 12 For a wider view of the changing was put upside down into the ground. Lithuanian religious landscape, see www. Meanwhile there is not much love lost religija.lt THE BALTIC AREA 91 traditionalists, right-wing extremists, Looking for answers, the Balts appreci- and violent homophobes. ate the Church’s spiritual dimension Painting a more or less clear picture of much more than its social or moral thirty-three European countries, includ- teachings. They tend to take a laid-back ing Russia, the Caucasus and Turkey, attitude to traditional religion. the 2005 Atlas of European Values shows Even though pockets of ethnic Lithua- how differently the Balts look upon reli- nians, Latvians and Estonians are pre- gion, its profession, and signifi- sent within the Baltic Orthodox cance in life.13 When it comes to mat- Churches, these churches remain closely ters of faith Estonia takes up the rear. linked to Russian culture, while the Together with Bulgaria and the Czech ROC abroad provides much support. Republic it is home, for example, to the The ties between ethnicity and religion largest number of religiously unaffili- are especially noticeable among Old ated people, while just 25 percent of Believers, where conversion ideally them ever go to church. In Latvia the would mean entering an entirely new number of more or less regular church- cultural context of often forgotten tra- goers climbs to 60 percent; in Lithua- ditions.15 These Orthodox Churches nia it reaches 80 percent. Looking at make up reasonably small minorities the percentage of people who pray at with relatively few practicing believers. least once a week, again the Estonians As Diaspora churches, they constitute end up last, the Latvians are in the lower rather closely-knit communities, which half of the ranking and the Lithuanians seldom interfere with national and inter- in the middle bracket. It comes, there- national politics. They are rarely drawn fore, as no surprise that Estonia emerges into the limelight, though prolonged as the most secularised of the three Baltic and extensive media attention was given countries.14 A majority of the Lithua- to the 1993 schism between mainly eth- nians for their part greatly value the nic Estonians and ethnic Russians of Roman Catholic rites of passage, which the Estonian Orthodox Church of the mark the most important stages of life. Moscow Patriarchate. Latvians finally find themselves some- where in the middle. Interestingly enough, Lithuanians display a strong, 13 L. Halman, R. Luijkx and M. van Zun- Italian like interest for the occult. Actu- dert, Atlas of European Values, pp. 60-73. ally, their trust in telepathy is highest 14 This has frequently been ascribed to in Europe. This phenomenon is exem- the individualising tendencies within plified by many commercial television the traditional, one time predominant shows and above all by the close relations Lutheran Church. 15 For the Baltic, Pomor’e Old Believers, of the impeached President Rolandas see V. Baranovskii and G. Potashenko, Paksas (2003/2004) to the Georgian Staroverie Baltii i Pol’shi: Kratkii istorich- seer Lena Lolishvili. The attitude of the eskii i biograficheskii slovar’ (Vilnius, Balts toward religion is, generally speak- 2005). This reference book is available on ing, sympathetic and it became in fact the Internet as well: http://kopajglubze. more favourable during the 1990s. boom.ru/staroverie.htm 92 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS

Orthodoxy in Estonia the international level, next to border The 2000 census inquired after the treaties, economic interests and occa- religious allegiance of the 1.12 million sional deportations of diplomat-spies, members of the population 15 years the treatment of the ethnic Russian old and above. The results turned out majority at large got caught up in the to be remarkably low. Only 152,000 controversy as well. Finally, at a spiritual of all Estonian residents stated their level the highest Orthodox Church lead- membership in the Lutheran Church. ers questioned each other’s authority About 143,000 believers – 63 percent of over the newly-independent republics them Russian speakers – belonged to of the former Soviet Union. The conflict one of the two branches of Estonian over Estonia became so tense that offi- Orthodoxy. Baptists and Roman cial contacts were suspended for a short Catholics make up rather small minori- while in 2000/2001. ties with, respectively, 6,000 and 5,700 Things cooled down a bit in 2002, adherents. With 2,500 members the when the Estonian government offi- Old Believer community is fairly cially recognised the EOC. A kind of small. The faithful are mostly ethnic legal separation was pronounced. On Russians, but there are 91 Estonians, the one hand the rival EAOC retained some Ukrainians and Byelorussians as its official status as the sole successor well. to the autocephalous interwar Orthodox In the 1880s German philologist Jakob Church, while on the other hand, the Grimm drew from Estonian folklore EOC could register under its proper some unique fairy tales, which we still name and uphold its own legal claim. enjoy today. The relations between eth- However, it was made clear by the then- nic Estonian and ethnic Russian Ortho- Minister of the Interior Ain Seppik that dox believers, however, have been less any demand was a matter for the court fairy tale like for many years. Together to decide. As of 17 April the EOC was with their supporting pillars, the Eston- officially registered with the Ministry ian and Russian governments, and the of the Interior, and soon thereafter its Ecumenical and Moscow , parishes as well. In October a deal was they became part of a trans-European struck between the EOC and the Min- stand-off. Starting off as a clash among istry. Paying a monthly rent of / 0.06 conflicting characters in 1993, two per edifice, the Church received the Orthodox jurisdictions came into being, right to use 14 churches and four build- the Estonian Orthodox Church of the ings over a period of 50 years. For its Moscow Patriarchate (EOC) and the part, the EAOC, who became the legal Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church owner in October 1993, ceded its prop- of the Ecumenical Patriarchate (EAOC). erty rights to the Estonian state and Subsequently the Estonian government received some / 2.1 million in funding identified the latter as the sole legal suc- in return. The execution of this com- cessor to the interwar Orthodox Church. promise solution, however, seems to At the local level, emotions, property, have suffered from bureaucratic com- and registration issues were at stake. At plications. THE BALTIC AREA 93

Nominally the EOC16 consists of some plained that not all juridical problems 150,000 believers, but in reality the had been solved. He also regretted the number of active members is much ‘grave error’ of anti-Russian sentiment lower. Meanwhile, infrastructure is well- in the 1990s, ‘when the Russian speak- developed. There are several deaneries ing population, which is intimately con- with about 30 parishes. Since 1989 seven nected to the Orthodox Church, was new churches have been built and two regarded as second class’.17 On 30 Sep- more are now under construction. No tember His Holiness was awarded with exception to the post-communist pat- the Märjamaa cross by state president tern, most of the 41 and 27 dea- Arnold Rüütel. Arguing that the Patri- cons were ordained after 1990. The arch was once a KGB agent, opposition Pühtitsa Dormition convent is not only parties Pro Patria Union and Moderates an important national spiritual centre, protested, but the Foreign Ministry but is such also for the entire ROC. The explained that the decoration merely convent now houses some 150 sisters was a matter of protocol. After all, Ecu- and novices under the guidance of menical Patriarch Bartholomew had mother superior Varvara (Trofimova). received the Cross as well. The Church’s leader is Metropolitan On the last day of his visit Patriarch Kornely (Yakobs) of Tallinn and all Esto- Alexy II unexpectedly met with Metro- nia, who in 1990 succeeded current politan Stephanos (Charalambidis) of Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II. Tallinn and all Estonia of the breakaway He became an in 1995 and EAOC, who had asked for such a meet- a metropolitan in 2000. ing. They discussed the situation of A major occasion was the long-awaited Estonian Orthodoxy, mutual relations visit of the supreme head of the ROC, and the property issue. who was greeted on his native grounds Another remarkable event in church life once again on 25-30 September 2003. was the canonisation of military chap- He was accompanied by Metropolitan lain Sergy Florinsky of Rakvere as a mar- Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, tyr on 17 July 2002. Florinsky had been responsible for foreign church affairs, executed by Estonian in Patriarchal dignitaries and Metropoli- 1918. On 17 November 2005, the well- tan Alexandr of Riga and all Latvia. His known Estonian composer Arvo Pärt, Holiness visited several localities in Esto- a native from Rakvere, was presented nia, among which the Puhtitsa with the Order of the Venerable Sergy monastery and the Lasnamae neigh- of Radonezh by Metropolitan Kornely. bourhood in Tallinn, where he laid the In his congratulatory message Patriarch first stone of a new parish church. On Alexy II commended the way, in which 26 and 27 September the Patriarch cel- ebrated Holy Liturgy in the Alexandr 16 Estonian Orthodox Church of Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, moving Moscow Patriarchate (www.orthodox.ee). the faithful to tears. On 26 September 17 ‘Tallinn: Visite officielle du patriarche he met with PM Juhan Parts. At the de Moscou en Estonie’, Service Orthodoxe press conference that followed, he com- de Presse, 282 (2003), 11, pp. 10-12. 94 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS the artist bound the liturgical and the- less significant was the reburial of the ological traditions of East and West remains of the martyr Mikhail together. and Nikolai. Together with Bishop Pla- ton of Tallinn, the two parish priests, The EAOC18 claims approximately who are Saints of the EOC as well, had 20,000 believers, who are mainly ethnic been murdered by retreating Red Army Estonians. They are provided with spir- soldiers in 1919. Their bodies were exca- itual care in some 59 parishes by 24 vated on 30 May 2005 during renova- priests and 8 . One is tion work on the Dormition church in active as an army chaplain and another . as chaplain at Tartu prison. The Church The last general assembly of the EAOC has been engaged in renovation, rebuild- took place on 16 June 2005, at which ing and restructuring as much as any Metropolitan Stephanos presented his other. For instance, the metropolitan ‘moral report’ of the Church. His pre- curia left its cramped offices at sentation offered an authentic insight Roosikrantsi Street for the Platon in recent church developments. In the centre at the nearby, more prestigious area of youth work, the church leader Wismari Street on 31 July 2002. That applauded various Christmas activities, same year, a seminary annex at a cate- and in particular the celebration of a chetical school opened its doors. Grad- Holy Liturgy in Pärnu exclusively for ually the courses are taking shape, and children, which had attracted about 150 in November 2004 the EAOC and the 4 to 12-year olds and their parents. Still, University of Tartu joined hands. There his criticism on this aspect of church are now about thirty-five students. Two life was severe. Parish catechesis is prac- lay persons study theology in Thessa- tically nonexistent. Furthermore, he felt loniki, and two clerics and three lay per- unhappy that no suggestions had been sons are working on doctoral degrees in made to attract youngsters to church, Paris, Thessaloniki and Tartu. An while suggestions, which had been pro- attempt is now under way to revive posed by the youth organisation Noorte monastic life. Over the last ten years Liit, had gone without consequences. some 2,500 were performed. ‘Everything is possible with a good will When Bishop Simon (Kruchkov) of and a genuine desire to break out of our Abydos unexpectedly died in 1998, cur- sclerotic and outdated working meth- rent Metropolitan Stephanos was elected ods. I tell you honestly, our youngsters in 1999 to head the EAOC. are bored with the chronic monotony Undoubtedly important to church life and lack of joy and optimism in our was the second visit of Ecumenical Patri- parish communities’, the Metropolitan arch Bartholomew from 3 to 5 July added.19 Acknowledging the Church’s 2003, which preceded the commemo- ration of 80 years of EAOC church 18 Eesti Apostlik-Õigeusu Kirik (www. that same month. On 27 eoc.ee) and Orthodox Church of Estonia October the 1935 church statutes were (www.orthodoxa.org). replaced by more up-to-date ones. No 19 Metropolitan Stephan, ‘Assemblée THE BALTIC AREA 95 limited resources to deal with poverty task of nastavnik (teacher, educator). It issues, he reminded his audience of the attests to a general trend of ‘feminisation’ introduction of a food bank in Decem- in most modern day churches.22 A very ber 2004. serious problem for the community is Furthermore, Metropolitan Stephanos the theft of . In Varnja and Kükita complained in general terms about the robbers repeatedly burgled the parish attitude of the ROC at the level of church. A mere glimpse at church sta- Orthodoxy worldwide. Actually, he tistics at the grass-root level clearly reveals spoke mildly and carefully, much more that great discrepancies exist between than in the recent past. On 19 January estimated, self-declared and practising 2005, the church leader deplored that believers.23 For instance, there are about Russian Orthodox representatives refused fifteen thousand Old Believers by birth, to participate in official events, if rep- while the 2000 census counted just resentatives of the EAOC were present. 2,500. Four hundred eighty-three Old In addition, he denounced the entan- Believers live in Tartu, one of the major glement of Kremlin and Patriarchal poli- Estonian cities, but only 140 are regis- cies. Despite appearances, he clarified, tered with the local community. the Estonian religious landscape wasn’t peaceful at all and the EAOC stood Latvia24 under great pressure. The Estonian case With 2.3 million inhabitants in 2005 was an ‘anomaly’ and should be char- Latvia is the second largest of the three acterised as ‘under Soviet occupation’.20 Baltic countries. According to a 2003 survey 25.1 percent of all Latvians con- Harbouring rich and age-old traditions, sidered themselves to be Orthodox, 24.7 the Union of Old Believer Communi- percent Lutheran, 21.2 percent Catholic, ties of Estonia21 was revived in 1995. 2.7 percent Old Believer, 2.1 percent Geographically, the Old Believers are Baptist, 0.3 percent Adventist, and 0.1 concentrated in the eastern parts of Esto- nia. There is one parish in Tallinn and générale du 16 juin 2005. Rapport moral’ another one in Tartu, while nine others (15 June 2005): www.orthodoxa.org/ are located in the predominantly Russ- FR/estonie/messages/AG05FR.htm ian Lake Peipsi region. With the excep- 20 O.S., ‘Kritik an Moskauer Patriarchat’, tion of the village Tähtvere, the popu- Glaube in der 2. Welt, 33 (2005), 3, p. 5. lation there is predominantly Russian 21 Russian Old Believers in Estonia (www.starover.ee). and mixed marriages are rare. These last 22 fifteen years, pre-war traditions were Estonian and Lithuanian statistics reinvigorated, like the celebration of a reveal percentages of 60 to 65 (women) and 35 to 40 (men). yearly all-Estonian church feast day. In 23 This observation is valid with respect Suur Kolkja the Old Believer children to most traditional confessions. enjoy religion class at school. A remark- 24 Ofitsalnyj Web-server Latvyskoi Pravo- able feature of modern Old Believers is slavnoi Tserkvi (www.pareizticiba.lv) and the participation of women in the local Latvyskaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov (www. parish councils, or even fulfilling the orthodox.lv). 96 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS percent Jewish. Some 9 percent said that ovation followed. Once the interior they believed, but did not relate to a redecoration was finished, attention specific confession. The percentage of shifted to the cathedral’s exterior. In the atheists was among the highest in presence of Professor Imants Freibergs, Europe, 11.9 percent. Of the 1,031 peo- who represented his wife, Latvian Pres- ple questioned two revealed themselves ident Vaira Vi¶e-Freiberga, the finan- as pagans and one as a Buddhist. In the cial campaign ‘Light’ took off on 8 Jan- capital Riga there are 41.2 percent uary 2003. It turned out to be a success, Orthodox believers, 16.8 percent Luther- as some / 650,000 have been collected ans, 15.7 percent Roman Catholics and from companies and businessman. Look- 9.7 percent atheists. Lutherans are most ing somewhat embarrassed, one of the numerous in the Vidzeme, Kurseme and organisers, poet and former ambassador Zemgale region; Catholics and Old to the Kremlin Janis Peters, explained in Believers in Latgallia. In 2003 the May 2005: ‘This spiritual project could Department of Religious Affairs dis- not do without a thing as sinful as closed the following statistic: 350,000 money.’27 In November the President Orthodox, 247,931 Catholics, 370,000 extended an invitation to Patriarch Alexy Lutherans, 3,849 Seventh-Day Adven- II to visit Latvia, which His Holiness tists, 6,503 Baptists, and an unbelievably gladly accepted. low number of Old Believers, 2,281.25 The LOC is relatively well provided With respect to the registered parishes with and religious persons. There and organisations in 2004, the Luther- are 84 priests, 12 deacons and some 40 ans took the lead (341), followed by seminarians are now studying at Kato§u Roman Catholics (251), Orthodox iela. The nunnery of Riga dates back to (118), Baptists (93), Pentecostals (48), the 19th century, but was never closed Old-believers (67), and Seventh-day during Soviet times. As far as Ortho- Adventists (50). dox monks are concerned, in Jelgava an attempt is made at reviving a men’s Following Latvia’s declaration of inde- monastery. In 18 churches services are pendence on 4 May 1990, the Moscow provided in the , and Patriarchate granted the eparchy of Riga in the cathedral there is one Holy autonomy. Under the guidance of Arch- bishop Alexandr (Kudryashov) of Riga 25 and all Latvia, who became a metro- ‘Religious situation in Latvia’, Blago- politan on 25 February 2002, the vest-info/Russkaya Linya (22 July 2003): rebuilding of the Latvian Orthodox www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews/ 26 0307l.html#49 Church (LOC) has gradually pro- 26 Ofitsalnyj Web-server Latvyskoi Pravo- gressed. At Christmas 1992 the first slavnoi Tserkvi (www.pareizticiba.lv) and Holy Liturgy in many years was impro- Latvyskaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov (www. vised in the Nativity of Christ Cathedral orthodox.lv). at Brivibas iela, which had been trans- 27 ‘Large-scale restoration works of main formed into a planetarium with coffee Orthodox cathedral begins in Latvia’, Itar- shop in the 1960s. A long period of ren- Tass (20 May 2005): http://itar-tass.com THE BALTIC AREA 97

Liturgy in Latvian each Sunday. In the Constantinople is the legal successor to countryside the LOC faces a common the ’, Metro- problem: the population is rapidly aging politan Alexandr lamented on 18 Jan- and the young are leaving for the city. uary 2006.30 Still, the problem is more In some villages 95 percent of the inhab- complicated than that. The church has itants are elderly people. The villages been the stage of the chamber choir Ave are poverty-stricken, alcohol and drug Sol since 1989. abuse is rampant and social ties are weak. Referring to the 2000 social doctrine of Ideally a priest is a man of religion, a the ROC, the Latvian Orthodox Sobor fundraiser, an architect and a social commented quite extensively upon the worker as well. Latvian society in transformation, too. Church-State relations have been In its ‘Declaration on the Health of the strained at times, and every now and Human Person and the People’ of 24 then the LOC has felt a need to pub- September 2001 the church council licly underline its rights, and those of its wanted to express its opinion on ethi- faithful. In 2002 Archbishop Alexandr cal questions of a sexual, medical, bio- readily agreed, when Minister for State medical and social nature. Issues were, Reform Affairs Janis Krumins proposed among others, access to medical care, to make Orthodox Christmas (7 Janu- euthanasia, marriage and abortion, ary) a public holiday, because it was homosexuality, same sex marriage, ‘both Christian and fair’,28 but on 26 pornography, family and children.31 January 2004 the Church criti- Spiritual life was profoundly marked by cised the introduction of Latvian as a three important events. In a sensational teaching language in Russian schools. find the un-decomposed remains of Janis After apologising for meddling with state Pommer were discovered on the Riga matters, it pointed out that the State Pokrov cemetery on 15 July 2003 and should make each resident feel at home taken in solemn procession to the Nativ- and respect his or her religion and nationality. The assembly cited the example of the ethnic Latvian martyr 28 ‘Christmas again’, Baltic Times (17-23 Saint Archbishop of Riga and all Latvia January 2002), p. 5. At present there are Janis Pommer,29 who allegedly never no signs to indicate that this well-meant distinguished people by their ethnicity. proposal will become law. Awaiting the restitution of the 18th cen- 29 For Janis Pommer, see here below. 30 tury Saint Peter and Paul church, the ‘Singing and dancing in the sanctuary Church is now facing up to an inter- of the oldest Orthodox church in Latvia esting example of bureaucratic sabotage. Riga’ (18 January 2006); www.interfax- religion.com In court the property question was 31 ‘Opredelenie. Sobora Latvyskoi Pravo- decided in its favour, but the present slavnoi Tserkvi o zdorov’i lichnosti i nar- owner, the city of Riga, did not move oda’ (Riga, 24 September 2001); www. on the issue. ‘Some extreme national- pareizticiba.lv/Main_ru/Menu_files/Chur ists scream that we are “the wrong kind ch_today/Ofdoc/Sobori/2001/Zdorovje. of Church” and that the Patriarchate of html 98 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS ity Cathedral on 3 October. Several ROC in 1992. Several miracles were thousands gathered to pay their respects recorded during the festivities. to the interwar church leader, whose savage murder in 1934 is still shrouded In 1994 the Latvian Orthodox priest- in mystery. Depending on ethnic sym- monk Viktor Kontuzorov left the LOC pathies, the culprit is either the Soviet and joined the ROCA.32 He was con- secret service NKVD or Latvian Presi- secrated Bishop of Daugavpils and Latvia dent Karlis Ulmanis. Pommer was beat- the following year and elevated to the ified in 2001. Travelling back to Russia rank of archbishop in November 2000. the famous Tikhvin went on dis- Presently Archbishop Viktor heads the play in Riga, where it had passed 55 Latvian Autonomous Orthodox Church years earlier on its flight to the United (LAOC), which consists of 14 parishes States. The exposition in the Nativity all over Latvia. Until now he was unsuc- Cathedral on 21-23 June 2004 was an cessful in obtaining official registration international multi-confessional occa- as an ‘Orthodox Church’, since the 1995 sion which attracted some 300,000 vis- Latvian law on religion states in §7.3 itors, among them Latvian President that ‘Congregations of the same denom- Vi¶e-Freiberga, PM Indulis Emsis, Met- ination may establish only one religious ropolitan Kornely, Old Believers, Car- association…’33 Therefore, there can be dinal Janis Pujats and Lutheran Arch- only one registered Orthodox Church, bishop Janis Vanags. Featuring Mother i.e. the LOC. Because in 2003 signs Mary, the jewel-encrusted golden icon appeared that the Latvian government was painted by Saint Luke and taken would want to change the clause, the in the fifth century from Jerusalem to LOC soon reacted. In May the secre- Constantinople, where it disappeared. tary of the Church Synod underlined It miraculously reappeared in 1383, the separation of Church and State and when fishermen saw it hovering above the possibility of discord within Ortho- Lake Ladoga, and in 1560 Tsar Ivan the doxy. On 18 July the Sobor issued a Terrible had the Dormition Monastery statement in which it laid a claim on built near Tikhvin to house the icon. A the exclusive use of the epithet ‘Ortho- painted copy, which was rubbed against dox’, but it did not oppose legal regis- the original to absorb a part of its spir- tration of the breakaway church. itual power, is now on permanent dis- In 2003, Archbishop Viktor explained play in the Orthodox cathedral. More the consequences of non-registration. modest was the exposition of the relics 32 of Russian Grand Duchess Elisabeth Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church and her associate nun Barbara, which (www.roac.ru) and the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church web site for the were travelling from Jerusalem to Dioceses of the Americas (www.roa- Moscow in the summer of 2004. The cusa.org). two pious women had been murdered 33 See ‘Latvia’, in Laws on Religion and by Bolsheviks in 1918 and were sancti- the State in Post-Communist Europe, fied by the Russian Orthodox Church eds. S. Ferrari and W. Cole Durham Jr. Abroad (ROCA) in 1981 and by the (Leuven, 2004), p. 167. THE BALTIC AREA 99

The LAOC is not allowed to teach reli- international conferences, and publish- gion in schools or to visit its parish- ing and translating a great variety of ioners in nursing homes and in hospi- books on theology, spirituality and reli- tal without risking a fine. Renovation gious dialogue. Last year the fifteenth of his Daugavpils cathedral church annual almanac Christianos appeared. proved to be impossible and in 2001 The Foundation also participated in an the city administration even made him exchange program for students of the take down new crosses from the church’s Moscow State University for Humani- roof because it had not yet been regis- ties in cooperation with the University tered. Since then, however, problems of Latvia and various governmental have eased. On 27 April 2003, for exam- offices in 2005. In this manner the ple, the city granted permission to hold Foundation wants to foster the spiritual an Easter procession around the church. and intellectual heritage of Father Meanwhile, the refusal to register or to Alexandr, which is decried in influential change the law has lead to a religious Russian Orthodox fundamentalist cir- freedom issue. This is the opinion of cles ever since his brutal murder on 9 the British lawyer John Warwick Mont- September 1990. In the specific Dias- gomery, who won the case of the pora situation of the LOC interest seems Bessarabian Orthodox Church against almost, if not entirely absent. the Republic of Moldova at the Euro- pean Court of Human Rights, and of With seventy to eighty thousand mem- the head of the Latvian Religious Affairs bers and more than fifty communities, Office Dr Ringolds Balodis.34 In 2005, the largest Old Believers Church (OBC) the Religious Affairs Administration pro- on the shores of the Baltic Sea is located posed to amend §7.3 once again, but in Latvia.36 These Old Believer parishes neither the Government nor the advi- are affiliated to the Latvian Central sory Ecclesiastical Council, which rep- Council of the Old-Orthodox Pomo- resents the main confessions,35 reacted. rian Church. The Church’s spiritual and Archbishop Viktor sustained numerous intellectual centre is the Grebenchikov burns in an arson attack on his resi- community in Riga, which is said to be dence in the cathedral church on 28 the largest worldwide and boasts some August 2003. seven thousand parishioners. The faith-

In December 2005 the R ga based i 34 Alexandr Men’ Foundation celebrated Balodis labeled it ‘one of the major its fifteenth birthday. From the outset its abuses of religious freedom’. R. Balodis, ‘Church and State in Latvia’, in Law main goal has been the promotion of and Religion in Post-Communist Europe, inter-religious and ecumenical dialogue, p. 153. just as its spiritual father Alexandr Men’ 35 Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, had wanted it to be. Over the years, it Old Believer, Baptist, and Jewish. spent much effort in improving the rela- 36 Some local information at Starover- tions between different confessions and Pomorets (www.starover-pomorec.lv/ nationalities, organising national and index.php). 100 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS ful are often described as peaceful and fon Kustikov and Parliamentarian Pavel pacifist, an attitude which resulted from Maximov, a novice Old Believer, whose over two centuries of often violent per- interests purportedly are more worldly secution. than spiritual. After all, the parish not Nowadays much attention is being paid only keeps centuries-old traditions alive, to the revival of the old church rituals but priceless books, icons and artefacts and to singing. Ritual and song, of as well. And from the huge parish build- course, are essential elements of the ing on the river real estate in Staroverie. Problematic, at least for some, the city centre and building land worth is the inescapable presence of women millions and millions of euros in much in the church. In the villages they will sought after areas of Riga are being sing liturgy, direct the church choir, or administered. The Latvian Religious even, in absence of a nastavnik, fulfil Affairs Office subsequently gave its bless- his tasks themselves. Liturgical singing, ing to the change of leadership, court to start with, is a man’s job, a nastavnik cases followed and finally on 16 Janu- was recorded as saying. However, the ary 2004 the Latvian Supreme Court introduction of a church hierarchy and ruled against the appellants. The judges subsequently of all seven by put an end to a conflict, which started the bezpopovtsy really stirs up emotions. in 1995. That year Mirolyubov suc- The supporters argue that the OBC lost ceeded to Aleksy Karataov, who was vio- its ecclesial fullness when the Old Believ- lently banished from the Grebenchikov ers broke with the ROC in the 1660s, parish because of his mismanagement its bishops were murdered and, as a con- of the community’s worldly goods. sequence, priesthood died out. There- Already in 2001 the wind started to fore, church life was reduced to a state blow cold, when he stepped down as of emergency and anomaly, which a few head of the Central Council at the centuries later was mistaken for authen- national Sobor in Daugavpils. He was tic and normative. According to some replaced with his predecessor in Riga.38 the ROC should provide the apostolic In January 2006 Mirolyubov was a dea- succession needed to legitimately ordain con of the ROC and functioned as sec- an Old Believer bishop, while oppo- retary of the commission for the relations nents decry this as nikonianstvo37 – a with the Old Believers under Metro- return to heterodoxy. politan Kirill of Smolensk and Kalin- In 2002 the determined pursuit of rap- ingrad. prochement with the ROC lead to the History is an important part of the Old downfall of glavny nastavnik (head Believers’ cultural life. In 2004, the teacher, educator) Ioann Mirolyubov of Grebenchikov faithful celebrated the the Grebenchikov parish, who was stripped from office on 14 July. The 37 In the 1660s Patriarch Nikon’s church community managers were removed as reform prompted the Old Believers to well. Following this palace revolution leave the ROC. of almost Shakespearian dimensions, 38 Various news articles. See www.new they were replaced with former ally Tri- stime.ru and http://religare.ru THE BALTIC AREA 101

245th anniversary of their community the 1981 level. According to the 2001 with a solemn procession, a religious census 80 percent of all Lithuanians call service and a historical conference. On themselves Roman-Catholic. They are 29 April 2004 the scientific symposium distributed over 675 parishes. With ‘Staroverie in Latvia: Historical experi- 140,000 adherents, the Russian Ortho- ences, culture and contemporary devel- dox eparchy of Vilnius and Lithuania opments in society’ took place. In his remains the second largest confession. word of welcome glavny nastavnik Tri - Lithuanian Orthodox as well as Roman fon Kustikov underlined the task of the Catholics describe mutual relations as present generation of Old Believers to ‘cold’. In third place comes the OBC hand over faith to the next. ‘It cannot with a flock of twenty-seven thousand. be that this branch of the Church of The Evangelical Lutheran Church has Christ, and its fruits, which God will some twenty thousand members in 58 judge, would fall to the ground’, he told parishes, primarily in the Nemunas his audience. Among the guests were region in the southwest. After a split LOC Metropolitan Alexandr, an Old into two branches some years ago, the Believer by birth, representatives of the number of Evangelical Reformed believ- Latvian government and Russian Ambas- ers now totals at approximately seven sador to Latvia Viktor Kalyuzhnyj. thousand. There are 17 communities. Another happy anniversary was the com- The six Sunni Muslim communities memoration of the 4 April 1905 ukase count 2,700 members. Approximately of Tsar Nicholas II, which put a legal 300 people adhere to the Ukrainian end to the persecution of the Old Believ- Greek Catholic Church. Finally, the Jew- ers in the . ish community numbers roughly four Since Mirolyubov’s departure for thousand, mostly elderly people, of Moscow there is not just a Sunday which only twelve hundred belong to school for children at the Grebenchikov one of seven different Jewish confes- parish, but one for adults as well. The sions. The Lithuanian law recognises main goal is a better understanding of nine traditional confessions: the afore- the Old Church Slavonic liturgical lan- mentioned denominations and the guage, and a greater appreciation thereof Karaites. This recognition means, among as well. Recently, a confessional Old other things, that they are allowed to Believers secondary school came into register marriages, set up schools and being, but the program is still a matter provide religious instruction in public of serious concern. Over the years three schools. Furthermore they enjoy exemp- groups of Old Believers crystallised: chil- tion from social security taxes for clergy dren, adults and learned adults. and employees and from VAT on util- ities, such as electricity and telephone. Lithuania39 All nine received state funding in 2005. The population of the largest Baltic country shrunk considerably over the last 15 years. At 3.42 million inhabi- 39 Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov’, tants in 2005 their number had reached Litovskaya Eparxiya (www.orthodoxy.lt). 102 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS

The eparchy of Vilnius and Lithuania is that figure will increase, once ethnic one of the smallest of the ROC. It com- Russians start to switch over to Lithuan- prises three deaneries, notably Klaipeda- ian as their primary language. The first Kaunas, which stretches from the shores native-language liturgy ever was tried of the Baltic Sea to the centre of the out last year by one of the three ethnic country, Visaginas in the northeast and Lithuanian priests, but following com- Vilnius in the southeast. With roughly plaints of the believers the experiment 40 church buildings the archdiocese was finished prematurely. Although the presently has fifty-two parishes, which Old Church Slavonic liturgical language are mainly situated along the border will remain a mystery for most believ- with Belarus. Their number is relatively ers their whole life, they are very con- high, but as a matter of fact, most of servative in this respect and feel very them are not very much alive. About uncomfortable with any change what- twenty-three villages are left with barely soever. The translators will have to go any believers, and liturgical services have back to work. Still, change is inevitable, been reduced to a minimum of one, because the 210,000 Russians and forty two or three times a year. For example, thousand Byelorussians cannot provide the feast of the titular saint may be the the cultural backbone necessary. In only occasion, on which Holy Liturgy Latvia, on the contrary, some 45 per- is celebrated. The situation has become cent of all believers are Russian speak- sadly clear: the young leave their native ers. villages, the old stay on and eventually Presently there are 34 priests and two die. Furthermore the number of prac- deacons, from the very young to the ticing Orthodox is very low. Of the very old, who are actively engaged in 140,000 perhaps 20 percent participate parish service. The Church’s spiritual more or less regularly in liturgical ser- centre is the Holy Ghost Monastery for vices, live a religious life, and educate men at the picturesque Ausros vartµ in their children according to tradition. Vilnius. Five priest-monks, one - Undoubtedly the number of believers monk, five married priests and five mar- will further decline in the near future. ried deacons presently serve liturgy and The two main reasons for this are mixed provide pastoral care there. In the Maria marriages and absorption into the Magdalena convent in Vilnius, there Roman Catholic Church, which is being now live 12 religious sisters. The eparchy described as an attractive alternative for of Vilnius and Lithuania is headed by youngsters. Demographic developments the old Metropolitan Khrizostom (Mar- and the closure of the Ignalina nuclear tyshkin) since 1990. He has been very power plant, however, will undoubtedly vocal in his criticism of the ROC in the reduce the number of ethnic Russians past, but had kept silent for a long while. even further. What is more, the eparchy In 2003, Sovershenno Sekretno (Top will undergo a process of Lithuanisa- Secret) did an interview. The Metro- tion in the next decades. The number politan reiterated previous observations of Lithuanian-speaking Orthodox is very regarding the Soviet past of major low now, no more than a hundred, but church officials and subsequently reaf- THE BALTIC AREA 103 firmed the need to put as much dis- of believers and nastavniki dropped dra- tance as possible between the Church matically during the Soviet era. The and the Russian State. Clearly imply- Church’s presence was reduced to the ing that the situation of the Orthodox countryside, but as soon as Lithuania Churches in Estonia and Latvia con- regained its independence in 1991, com- tinued to be much less favourable, his munities were revived or newly estab- description of Church-State arrange- lished in cities like Vilnius, Kaunas, ments in Lithuania was a positive one. Klaipeda, Zarasai and Panevezys. The Besides, Metropolitan Khrizostom Vilnius community is the centre of the regretted the cold relations between Lithuanian Old Believers Church, and, Orthodox and Catholics hierarchs. The growing rapidly in the 1990s, it laid a common discourse on the ‘expansion of claim for the spiritual leadership of the the Catholic church in Russia’ he found Baltic Staroverie. At the end of the 1980s rather exaggerated, not the right and the first half of the 1990s the num- approach to things.40 ber of baptisms rose considerably as did The eparchy of Vilnius and Lithuania is the number of worshippers, especially a small-scale establishment and its future at feast-days. A Sunday school opened is sought, first and foremost, within the its door and a choir was organised. The ROC. Social activities have been devel- number of believers varies between ten oped, but the scope is rather limited and fifteen thousand, while an impres- due to a lack of means. Every parish has sive 4,800 take part in church life on a its own youth groups with song, dis- more or less regular basis.41 cussion and sports. The Church attends Schisms in parishes, competing factions to some two to three thousand young- within the church leadership, material sters. An event of note was the Lithuan- difficulties and the inability to repos- ian visit of the relics of Grand Duchess sess property that was stolen away by Elisabeth of Russia and of her associate the communists are the more worldly nun, Sr. Barbara, in the summer of worries. At the same time the wounds 2004. of the past need healing, too: godless- ness, lack of responsibility and submis- There is not much known about the siveness. Presently, 59 Lithuanian Old Old Believers of Lithuania. Civil court Believers’ parishes are registered with proceedings in Vilnius, however, made the Supreme Council of the Old Ortho- it clear that the seeds of discord were dox Pomorian Church in Lithuania. planted among the Lithuanian faithful as well. Following the registration of 39 40 Old Believer communities, the judge L. Velekhov, ‘Interview with Metro- politan Khrizostom of Vilnius and affirmed in April and June 2003 the Lithuania’, Sovershenno Sekretno (July, legitimacy thereof. Indeed, the Lithuan- 2003), 7; www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/rel- ian Old Believers have experienced an news/0307e.html eventful history ever since World War II. 41 V.B[aranovsky], ‘Vil’nyusskaya (Vilen- The number of parishes has remained skaya) Obtschina’ [Vilnius, 2005]; more or less the same, yet the number www.kopajglubze.boom.ru/slovar/v.htm 104 FRANS HOPPENBROUWERS

Even though mixed marriages have been frequent in the past, and there are quite a few Lithuanians with Old Believers’ roots, they represent just a tiny religious minority.42

42 G. Potashenko, ‘The Culture of Old Believers of Baltic States’ [Vilnius, 2005]; www.ldm.lt/Naujausiosparodos/Old_Beli evers_b.en.htm