Other Orthodox Churches behind the Iron Curtain

A General Council of the Latvian Orthodox Church took place in Riga on 26 February 1920 shortly after Latvia declared independence. The Council received the approval of Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow for Archbishop Janis (Pommers) of Pemza to be head of the Orthodox communities. The archbishop, who was born in Latvia and was a member of the Russian Holy Synod, arrived in Latvia in July 1921 and obtained autonomy for his church. Latvia was a predominantly Catholic country and the new political authorities regarded the Orthodox Church as closely connected to the regional interests of the Soviet Union. The state favoured special relations with the Catholic Church while the Orthodox Church saw many of its properties confiscated after independence. Archbishop Janis was allowed to go to Latvia due to his family connec- tions; his great-grandfather was one of the first peasants to convert to Orthodoxy in the Vendzen region and he was arrested and persecuted by the Soviet authorities. The archbishop convinced the Latvian authorities that his church was a genuine Latvian confession and became involved in political affairs as a member of the Seima (Parliament) from 1925 until 1934. After the death of the Patriarch Tikhon on 25 March 1925, the Russian Orthodox Church faced widespread persecution. Events in the Soviet Union had an impact on the Latvian Orthodox Church. The state recognised the Church in 1926 on the condition of that it severed contact with the Moscow Patriarchate. However, the archbishop managed to delay implementation of this law and complete separation from Moscow did not take place. The uncertain position of the Church lasted until 1934, when on 11 October the archbishop was assassinated at his summer residence near Riga. Without a spiritual leader, the Church Assembly and political authorities decided that the Church should be under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Negotiations between the two churches took a few years and Metropolitan Germanos Strinopoulos of Thyateira and Great Britain represented the Ecumenical Patriarchate. The final decision on autonomy came after a leadership transition in Constantinople, and, on 4 February 1936, the Veniaminos. Petersons, a clergyman in charge of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and dean of the Daugavpils region, was elected Metropolitan in 1936. Statistical figures in 1935 suggest that nine per cent of the Latvian population was Orthodox with around 174, 389 believers.1.