Legal Status of Religious Communities in the Realms of Public and Private Law
| Author | Merilin Kiviorg |
| Pages | 169-177 |
Merilin Kiviorg
Legal Status of Religious Communities in the Realms of Public and Private Law
In the 1920s and 1930s, before Soviet occupation, Estonia was more or less religiously homogenous. Most of the population, approximately 76%, belonged to the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (hereinafter: EELC)1. The second largest church was the Estonian Apostolic-Orthodox Church (hereinafter: EAOC). Today approximately only 17% of the population are officially connected with different Christian churches. In 1994 and in 1998 two broad surveys were organised about religious life in Estonia. According to the results, the number of people believing in God has grown from 37% to 49%. At the same time, the number of people identifying themselves as atheists has grown from 1% to 6%. Forty-five per cent identified themselves as Lutheran. According to one unofficial estimation "Christian beliefs are mixed with pagan world view" in Estonia. It means that although 45% identify themselves as Lutheran, their actual beliefs do not always reflect church teachings. The EELC has been the dominant church in Estonia since the middle of the 16th century and many Estonians traditionally identify themselves as Lutheran. This does not necessarily mean that they have any connection with the institutional structures of the church nor does it always reflect their religiosity. In 1999, the Estonian population was estimated to be 1,445,580. Official membership of the EELC was approximately 177,2332. This number includes both the active and passive members of the church. For example, in 1997 only 54,481 members had paid their annual membership fee3. Although results of surveys and presented figures leave considerable room for any kind of interpretation, they hopefully reflect, to some extent, the objective reality of religious life in Estonia.
The EAOC has 58 congregations and approximately 18,000 members4. The Roman Catholic Church has seven congregations with approximately 3500 members. In the 19th century the Free Faith Movement ("priilus") was a breeding ground for the Baptist (1884), Adventist and Methodist denominations. In the first independence period 1918-1940 the Pentecostal Movement was introduced. During the Soviet occupation Baptists and other free churches (Adventists and Methodists) were forced to join the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptists according to the model of Russia. The Pentecostal Movement and Jehovah's Witnesses were banished. Today, the Union of Evangelical Christians and Baptists has 89 congregations with approximately 6500 members, the Episcopal Methodist Church has 24 congregations with approximately 2000 members and the Union of Adventists of Seventh Day has 18 congregations with approximately 2000 members. At the end of Soviet occupation and later, several Christian congregations have been registered in Estonia, the most influential being the Estonian Christian Pentecostal Church which has 39 congregations and approximately 3500 members, the Word of Life Congregation (Livets Ord), the Charismatic Episcopal Church (approximately 300 members) and some others. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) has approximately 482 members, the New Apostolic Church has ten congregations and 2086 members and the Union of Congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses has eleven congregations with about 3846 members. Jewish and Muslim communities practised their religion in Estonia under Tsarist rule already. The Jewish community has three independent congregations. There are approximately 2500 Jews in Estonia. Before the Second World War there were two synagogues in Estonia, currently there are no synagogues and no Rabbis. The Estonian Islamic Congregation has approximately 1467 members and is quite unique in nature. In the same congregation there are both Sunnis and Shiites. In 1995, thirteen believers left the congregation and formed the Estonian Mussulman Sunnite Congregation. These thirteen people left the Estonian Islamic Congregation not because of religious reasons but rather because of personal misunderstandings. The first mosque is under construction5. The registered congregation (House of Taara and Mother Earth People of Maavald) of confessors of the Estonian native religion has approximately 287 members and three congregations. These are only a few statistics to give a picture of the pluralistic religious life of Estonia. All together there are seven churches, eight associations of congregations and 60 so-called single congregations registered by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Register of Churches and Congregations in accordance with the Churches and Congregations Act (hereinafter: CCA). In addition to that, 35 religious societies are registered in accordance with the Non-profit Organisations Act in the Register of Non-profit Organisations.
At the beginning of the 1990s, after regaining independence, Estonia experienced what can be called a "return of the religious", which was quite common in all Eastern European post-communist societies. These processes were partly an expression of national identity and partly a reaction to the suppression of individual freedom by the Soviet regime. But the religious enthusiasm caused by independence ended quickly and the extensive growth of the membership of religious organisations stopped. Estonia can be considered as quite a secularised country today.
Christianity is most likely to have arrived in Estonia before 1054. Estonia was christianised by the middle of the 13th century, through the crusades and other coercive methods. Bishop Albert and the Order of the Sword Brethren combined forces so that the knights of the Order could conquer the land and the priests could baptise the people. As a result of the conquest the Pope as the head of the universal church became the highest suzerain of Estonia. The Pope personally took the Estonian neophytes under his protection, establishing a church state in Estonian territory. In the 17th century, when Estonia came under the sovereignty of Sweden, systematic ordering of the life under the Lutheran Church began and the Catholic Church was practically expelled from Estonia. The Reformation turned the church-state relationship upside-down to that of state-church, more precisely, land-church.
The history of law on religions in the Republic of Estonia can be divided into four main periods. The first one started with the formation of the independent state in 1918 and with the adoption of the 1920 Constitution, which set forth the principle of strict separation of state and church. The 1920 Constitution was followed by the 1925 Religious Societies and Their Associations Act (hereinafter: the 1925 Act), which reinsured the idea of equal treatment of all religious organisations and the separation of state and church. The 1930s saw significant political changes in Estonian society, which can be illustrated by characteristics such as the centralisation of the state administration, concentration of power, the deficit of democracy and the expansion of state control. In 1934 the Churches and Religious Societies Act (hereinafter: the 1934 Act) was enacted by decree of the State Elder (President), not by parliament. This Act set forth different legal treatment for churches and other religious societies. The status of churches, especially large churches, was to a certain extent similar to the status of a state church. The government of all churches was subjected to control of the State. According to Subsection 84 (1) b) of the 1938 Constitution the leaders of the two most important and largest churches gained ex officio membership in the Riiginõukogu (Upper House of Parliament).
The third period started with the Soviet occupation of Estonia. The law on religions in the Soviet Union was based on the 1918 Leninist decree on the separation of church from state and school from church. The bizarre fact is that the separation of state and church (resp. religious organisations) was actually non-separation, because of state control over every aspect of the religious organisations, their leaders and, sometimes, even their members. In 1977 a new decree on the General Statute of the Religious Collectives was adopted, but the basic principles remained the same.
The fourth period begins with the regaining of independence at the beginning of the 1990s and with the adoption of the 1992 Constitution. The religious freedom clauses in the 1992 Constitution were followed by the 1993 Churches and Congregations Act. The draft Act on Churches and Congregations (hereinafter: the draft Act) is presented to Parliament. Although Estonia is re-establishing its legal order on the principle of restitution, taking into account the legal situation before the Soviet occupation, it should also take account of new developments and obstacles and the principles of European and international law.
In Estonia the right to freedom of religion is protected by the Constitution of 1992 and by international instruments that have been incorporated into Estonian law. Starting with protection by international instruments, section 3 of the Estonian Constitution stipulates that universally recognised principles and standards of international law shall be an inseparable part of the Estonian legal system. Section 123 states that if Estonian acts or other legal instruments contradict foreign treaties ratified by the Riigikogu (Estonian parliament), the provisions of the foreign treaty shall be...
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