Campaign Against Moscow Patriarchate Developing In Latvian Media

Photo: The Nativity of Christ Cathedral, Riga, Latvia

The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is expanding its campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) to Latvia.

Latvian LTV’s programme De facto reported that the Moscow Patriarchmay may push Metropolitan Alexander (Aleksandrs Kudrjasovs) of the Latvian Orthodox Church (LOC) to resign. The Latvian media speculated that this is linked with the LOC attempts to gain an ‘independence’ from the Moscow Patriarchate. Such a request was submitted to the Moscow Patriarchate, and it accepted it for consideration.

HINT: The Latvian Orthodox Church is a self-governing Eastern Orthodox Church under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. The primate of the church carries the title of Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia. This position has been occupied by metropolitan Alexander since October 27, 1990.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics commented to LTV that there have been “certain activities” in the church that should be studied. In other words, the Latvian government would prefer if the LOC follows a Ukraine-like scenario and turns into a tool of the destruction of the canonic Orthodox Church.

Earlier, the Latvian government passed amendments to the Law on the Latvian Orthodox Church requiring members of clergy running for the posts of the metropolitan and bishops to be citizens of Latvia and having lived in the country for the past ten years at least. The changes were passed under pretext of combating ‘Russian influence’ in the country.

Local sources link the increasing campaign against the Moscow Patriarchate in Latvia with actions of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and its backers among Western elites that support neo-liberal globalist forces.