"The Pühtitsa Convent has become a pawn in a clash between political forces, ultimately posing a threat to its existence. As you should be aware, the convent and its nuns have always maintained a non-political stance," wrote the convent's abbess, Mother Superior Filareta.
"We view with great perplexity and bitterness the attempts to make us, the inhabitants of Pühtitsa Convent, responsible for what is occurring on the political stage," she added.
Mother Filareta noted that in April of this year, the Riigikogu adopted a declaration stating that any direct link with the Russian Orthodox Church is considered a threat to Estonia's security. "For Pühtitsa Convent, this sounds like a death sentence. According to the logic of this declaration, the monastery and its nuns, whose average age is 60, are being equated with a subversive, terrorist organization. Let us agree that this sounds absurd," remarked Mother Filareta.
"This reaction stemmed from certain statements made by Patriarch Kirill. We would like to make it clear that we do not support the views he expressed in those statements and our prayers were, are and will continue to be solely prayers for peace, not for any kind of military victory. The monastery is 133 years old. Throughout all this time, within its walls, prayers have been offered for the well-being and prosperity of Estonia, for peace in Estonia and for the welfare of the Estonian people," the abbess continued.
"We turn to you as 21st-century politicians who have the bitter experience of past centuries marked by wars, state-sponsored violence and terrifying genocides behind you and who, it seems to us, should base all their decisions on the human being, the ordinary person. Every kind of politics ultimately affects people – especially when it concerns such a sensitive area as church-state relations. It appears to us that members of parliament are people who stand for upholding the law and should not demand that we violate church law," wrote Mother Filareta.
"Honored members of the Riigikogu and Estonian Council of Churches, please listen to our voice! For more than half a year, the idea that the monastery poses a threat to the Republic of Estonia has been instilled within Estonian society. We are being compelled to violate church statutes. We are being essentially forced out of the legal framework and made into outcasts, second-class citizens with whom one can act without regard to legal and moral standards. All of this can be compared to violence inflicted by someone undeniably stronger upon someone undeniably weaker," wrote Mother Filareta in her letter.
"Is such blatant disregard for the rights of a religious organization permitted in a democratic state? Do you not care what the world has to say about this? Does this glaring injustice, in which you are inevitably complicit, not trouble your conscience? We appeal to you with the hope that common sense and love for Estonia will compel you to see the true situation. Leave us out of politics! We want to be solely with Christ! We urgently request the preservation of the status quo of the Pühtitsa Convent," Mother Superior Filareta wrote.
The Kuremäe Monastery, which operates under the direct jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia (i.e., it is a stauropegial monastery), stated a week earlier in response to a request from the Ministry of the Interior to leave the Moscow Patriarchate's jurisdiction and relinquish its stauropegial status that it could not do so for legal and religious reasons.
Last month, Minister of the Interior Lauri Läänemets (SDE) proposed to the government a legislative amendment that would prohibit any church or congregation in Estonia from operating if it is affiliated with an organization supporting military aggression.