Moscow Urges Riga to Refrain From Interfering in Church Relations - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow calls on Riga not to interfere in church relations amid reports that the Latvian government has sent a letter to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia demanding to declare the Latvian Orthodox Church autocephalous, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Ambassador-at-Large Gennady Askaldovich said on Friday.

"We would like to call on the 'church reformers' from Latvia not to interfere in the relationship of the churches, but to deal with the problems that are many in their country. The real fact of further interference in the affairs of the Latvian Orthodox Church, attempts to undermine the foundations of Orthodoxy in Latvia broadcast to the whole world the unwillingness of the Latvian authorities to respect the inviolable right of man and citizen to freedom of religion," Askaldovich said.

The ambassador noted that Moscow will not agree with such a policy and will do everything possible to expose it on all international platforms. Askaldovich also called on the confessional community to pay attention to the blatant fact of discrimination on religious grounds on the part of Latvia.

"It is unacceptable to resort to state pressure and dictate in such a sensitive area as inter-church relationships," Askaldovich added.

On September 8, the Latvian Seijm promptly approved amendments to the law, proposed by the country's president, Egils Levits, that declared the Latvian Orthodox Church autocephalous. The amendments to the law on the Latvian Orthodox Church, making it totally independent from any other church outside Latvia, primarily the Russian one. The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that the approval of such amendments to the law on the Latvian Orthodox Church would not be left without consequences.

In early September, a source from the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Church Relations told Sputnik that autocephaly could be granted to the Latvian Orthodox Church only by the Russian Orthodox Church and state interference in such matters is unconstitutional.