The President of Latvia Egils Levits submitted to the parliament a draft law on changing the status of the Latvian Orthodox Church, reports the official website of the Latvian presidency.
Currently, the Latvian Orthodox Church has the status of a self-governing church within the Moscow Patriarchate. It received this status in 1990, when Latvia proclaimed its state independence. It is headed by miter. Alexander (Kudryashkov).
President Levits proposes to the Latvian parliament to recognize it as independent.
The President of Latvia stated that the Latvian Church was de facto recognized as autocephalous in 1921 by Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow. Later, when Latvia was occupied by the USSR, the previous decisions of the Russian Orthodox Church were reversed and the Latvian Church was incorporated into the Russian Orthodox Church.
The President notes that he has met the understanding and approval of the parties in the Latvian Parliament for his proposed draft law. The Orthodox Church has also been informed, but so far there is no official reaction.
“I can assure that the Latvian Orthodox Church and Metropolitan Alexander can count on the full support of the Latvian state as an autocephalous church recognized by law in the future,” the president wrote.
“When the law comes into force, any influence or authority of the Moscow Patriarch over our Orthodox Church will be removed. Renunciation of any ties with the Moscow Patriarch is an important matter for our Orthodox believers, for the entire Latvian society and for national security,” the Latvian president said .
The President of Latvia also noted that he discussed the proposed draft law with all state institutions, the National Security Council and the parliamentary committees on national security and human rights. All of them have expressed the opinion that the law should be voted on as soon as possible. The president has asked parliament to grant the bill extraordinary status, and it will most likely be considered on September 8.
About 700 thousand are the Lutherans in the country, 370 thousand are the Orthodox and 500 thousand are Catholics. The Orthodox are about 18% of the population.
