Three years after the Seimas passed a law recognizing the independent status of the Latvian Orthodox Church (LOC), this independence has yet to be canonically confirmed.
According to Mixnews, citing the Latvian television program “De facto,” the leadership of the LOC is not interested in completing the process of severing ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.
After the start of the war, the Latvian Orthodox Church, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, agreed to cut its ties with the Russian Church and supported amendments to the law that declared its full independence, as reported by the LETA agency.
However, to canonically solidify this decision, the Moscow Patriarchate was required to recognize the independence of the LOC and issue a Tomos of autocephaly. Nevertheless, the Russian Orthodox Church has not taken this step.
Valdis Tēraudkalns, a professor at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Latvia, explained that, according to the canonical rules of the Orthodox Church, if the Moscow Patriarchate does not respond positively, the Patriarchate of Constantinople has the authority to intervene.
Representatives from the Latvian Orthodox Church had the opportunity to meet with Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople during his recent official visit to Riga, which was extended by the President of Latvia. However, Metropolitan Alexander of Riga and All Latvia did not officially meet with Patriarch Bartholomew and declined an invitation to participate in a joint service, despite typically attending ecumenical services on public holidays.
“De facto” also reported that, in practice, the name of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has not been completely removed from the churches of the Latvian Orthodox Church; at least one church in Riga currently includes Patriarch Kirill's name in its prayers.
The program posed several questions to the Latvian Orthodox Church, but received a firm refusal to respond.
At the same time, the State Security Service (SSS) acknowledged that, according to its information, the Latvian Orthodox Church is in compliance with Latvian laws. However, the SSS continues to monitor the activities of the Latvian Orthodox Church community.