The initiative is connected to the fact that the Moscow Patriarchate supports the ruling regime in Russia and the war that Russia is promoting against Ukraine.
The Saeima of Latvia on Thursday adopted urgent amendments to the law on the Latvian Orthodox Church, establishing its complete independence from any church authority outside Latvia. On Thursday, September 8, the Delfi portal reports.
The law establishes the fully autocephalous status of the church and stipulates that it is headed by the head of the church, independent of any ecclesiastical authority outside Latvia.
“With the adoption of the law, the historical autonomy and independence of the Latvian Orthodox Church has been strengthened,” said Artus Kaimiņš, chairman of the Human Rights and Public Affairs Commission.
He emphasized that such a decision “meets the interests of Latvian Orthodoxy, the entire society and national security.”
The annotation to the bill of amendments states that from the moment of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church, both at the level of church leadership and at the level of the clergy, has been justifying the war, aggression and violence of Russia against the Ukrainian people, glorifying and justifying the war crimes committed by Russia on the territory of Ukraine.
Thus, Russia lost 118 church parishes on the territory of Latvia.
In this regard, in the Russian Federation, they reacted to the decision of the LPTs to separate. They said that the decision of the Latvian Seimas to grant the Latvian Orthodox Church independence from the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate was dictated by the secular authorities and it violates church laws and the very Constitution of Latvia.
Recall that German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier criticized the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) for supporting the war in Ukraine.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.