U.S.
Department of State Human Rights Report 1998
The Constitution provides
for freedom of religion, and the Government respects this right in
practice.
The 1993 Law on Churches and Religious Organizations requires all
religious organizations to have at least 12 members and to be registered
with the Interior Ministry and the Board of Religion. Leaders of religious
organizations must be citizens with at least 5 years' residence in
Estonia.
The majority of Estonians are nominally Lutheran, but following deep-seated
tradition there is wide tolerance of other denominations and religions.
Persons of varying ethnic backgrounds profess Orthodoxy, including
communities of Russian Old Believers who found refuge in Estonia in
the 17th century. The Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church (EAOC), independent
since 1919, subordinate to Constantinople since 1923, and exiled under
the Soviet occupation, reregistered under its 1935 statute in August
1993. Since then, a group of ethnic Estonian and Russian parishes
preferring to remain under the authority of the Russian Orthodox Church
structure imposed during the Soviet occupation has insisted that it
should have claim to the EAOC name but has been unable to register
under the same name. Representatives of the Moscow and Constantinople
Patriarchates continued consultations to resolve the question, which
centers on property issues. The Government and some prominent businessmen
were facilitating the discussions. In early 1998, the Moscow Patriarchate
declared that it would register under a different name but failed
to do so by year's end. By mid-1998, the dispute between the two Patriarchates
flared again over official names and property rights, including the
controversial Nevski Orthodox Cathedral. In a more positive light,
early in the year an agreement was reached between the State and the
Kuremae monastery on the use of the property. Throughout the dispute,
free worship has occurred in practice.
Source: Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices for 1998, U.S. Department of State.
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