President of Latvia Egils Levits, using the prerogative of legislative initiative, presented on Monday a draft law according to which the Latvian Orthodox Church will have to officially and completely sever all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate.

“With this legislative amendment, the Latvian state recognizes that the Latvian Orthodox Church is completely independent (autocephalous). It does not depend on any authority outside of Latvia. When the law enters into force, any influence or power of the Patriarch of Moscow (Kyril) over our Orthodox Church will be removed,” the Latvian president said, adding that his legislative proposal would be discussed by parliament as an emergency, EFE and Agerpres reported.

Currently, the Latvian Orthodox Church is formally loyal to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow, who is accused in the West of being close to President Vladimir Putin and supporting military aggression against Ukraine.

Presidential intervention?

However, Valdis Teraudkalns, professor of theology at the University of Riga, notes that while he does not like the attitude of Cyril or the Russian Orthodox Church, the Latvian president’s proposal, in his opinion, is an interference in the separation of Church and state. in Latvia.

“It is about the amazing intervention of the state in church affairs, reminiscent of Soviet times, when the state tried to break the ties of Catholics with the Pope,” explains the Latvian professor.

In addition, if the proposed law obliges Latvian Orthodox communities to remove the prayers of the Patriarch of Moscow from divine services, it will be a serious violation of church practice, “it will be a step of the Soviet model,” Teraudkalns insists.

Latvia, a former Soviet republic that is now a member of the EU and NATO, has a population of less than two million, of whom about 350,000 are Orthodox Christians, most of whom are Russian-speaking.