ABSTRACT

As the First World War shattered the old empires, Orthodox Christians in former imperial territories faced a dilemma. Should they remain loyal to their Russian “Mother Church,” from which they were separated by physical and ideological borders, or should they pursue autonomy and break away from their former canonical centre? This article deals with the evolution of the Estonian part of Riga diocese into an autonomous Orthodox Church, focusing on the negotiations, compromises, pluralism, and realpolitik that characterized this process. The reconfiguration of Riga diocese in 1917–23 and the emergence of the autonomous Estonian Orthodox Church under the patriarch of Constantinople occurred under the influence of three factors: first, the political formation of Estonian statehood; second, the violence of the Bolshevik takeover and the Civil War; and, third, the temporary decentralization of the Russian Church. Pointing out that Patriarch Tikhon was willing to negotiate various forms of church autonomy in the Baltic and there was support for remaining under the jurisdiction of Moscow, the article argues that the change of jurisdiction was in itself a sign of the Estonian Church’s agency when it came to fulfilling its desire for ecclesiastical autonomy.

摘要

第一次世界大战摧毁了旧帝国，前帝国领土上的东正教徒面临困境。他们是应该忠于自己的俄罗斯“母亲教会”，而他们在物理和意识形态上却与之分离，还是应该追求自治并摆脱以前的规范中心？本文涉及里加教区爱沙尼亚部分向自治东正教的演变，重点讨论了代表这一进程的谈判，妥协，多元化和现实政治。1917-23年里加教区的重新配置和君士坦丁堡先祖统治下的爱沙尼亚东正教自治的出现是在三个因素的影响下进行的：首先，爱沙尼亚建国的政治形成；第二，布尔什维克接管和内战的暴力。和，第三，俄罗斯教会的临时权力下放。文章指出，宗主教长愿意在波罗的海地区谈判各种形式的教堂自治，并支持将其保留在莫斯科的管辖范围内，文章认为，管辖权的改变本身就是爱沙尼亚教会代理机构的标志。满足其对教会自治的渴望。