On November 3, after the divine service in the Riga Holy Trinity Cathedral, Bishop Ioann (Sychevsky) of Yelgava announced that the leadership of the Latvian Orthodox Church had reached an understanding with the Latvian authorities and is posed to receive serious state funding for the renovation of the dome of the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
That’s according to the official website of the Latvian Church.
Earlier, the Latvian Orthodox Church practically declared itself autocephalous. Its superior, Metropolitan Aleksandr (Kudryashov), renounced ties with the Moscow Patriarchate and ordered his clerics not to mention Patriarch Kirill during services.
In his sermon, Bishop Ioann emphasized that the renovation works will be very expensive, and that they will go on only thanks to the incredible efforts of the metropolitan bishop, who managed to reach the agreement with the authorities. Otherwise, Bishop Ioann said, the dome of the cathedral could collapse in the near future.
“Today we prayed for the health of the Primate of our Latvian Orthodox Church, benefactors and donors of the cathedral during the thanksgiving prayer. We pray to the All-Merciful Lord and Savior of our Jesus Christ to bestow His indescribable mercy and help in the revival and restoration of the cathedral,” Bishop Ioann noted.
At the end, Archpriest Yakov Prisiazhniuk, deacon of Riga, called on the parishioners and clergy of the Holy Trinity Cathedral to offer increased prayers for Metropolitan Aleksandr and representatives of the Latvian authorities. As a sign of gratitude for their actions for the benefit of the Orthodox in the country.
Renunciation of Moscow Patriarchate
In October 2022, the Council of the Latvian Orthodox Church appealed to the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, to grant them autocephaly. They also ask for appropriate changes to be made to the Church’s charter. According to the Latvian Orthodox Church, during the council, the absolute majority of participants supported the amendments to the law initiated by President Egils Levits and approved by the Seimas in September.
Earlier, on September 8, 2022, the Latvian parliament, on the initiative of President Egils Levits, announced the full independence of the Latvian Orthodox Church, which until then was subject to the Moscow Patriarchate. In the Moscow Patriarchate, this caused a flurry of negative comments and criticism. In particular, the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church Leonid (Gorbachev) attacked the Latvian Church because of its “toothless position”. The ROC also condemned the independence of their branch in Latvia due to the adoption of the relevant law. The Russians accused Latvia of an anti-Russian course because of the autocephaly of the Latvian Church. After these changes, the Synod of the Latvian Orthodox Church called on the clergy and laity to maintain a peaceful state of mind and unity of their Church, strictly observing the laws of our Latvian State.
According to the Latvian Ministry of Justice, as of 2020, the LOC owned 128 active churches and other religious buildings, in which 114 clerics served. The total number of parishioners was 250,000, which makes the Orthodox Church the third largest church in Latvia (after Lutherans, 700,000 and Catholics, 324,000).
