30 January 2014
The General Secretary of the Conference of European Churches, Rev. Dr Guy Liagre has held a meeting with Prime Minister of Estonia Andrus Ansip.
Also present were: Rev. Ruudi Leinus (Estonian National Council of Churches); Rev. Fr. Heikki Huttunen (National Council of Churches Finland) and Most Rev. Andres Põder (Archbishop Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church).
They met in the Estonian capital Tallinn on January 29 at a meeting that coincided with the three-day Nordic-Baltic Ecumenical Secretaries' Meeting that took place between January 28 and 30.
"We spoke about the situation of Estonia and touched also on questions related to the European situation.
"The prime minister underlined the important role of religious communities in socio-ethical questions and debates underlining the basic principle of separation between Church and State," said Liagre after the meeting with Ansip.
During one meeting of the ecumenical secretaries there was discussion on the "Protocol of Common Interests of the Government of the Republic of Estonia and the Estonian Council of Churches signed on 17 October 2002."
Before his meeting with the prime minister, Liagre met the Second Vice-President of the Estonian Parliament Jüri Ratas.
Later he attended the plenary session of the ecumenical secretaries' meeting which had the theme, "Religion and church in Estonia: a political and legal perspective."
The plenary session was moderated by Very Rev. Heikki Huttunen of the Finnish Ecumenical Council.
Rev. Urmas Viilma of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee and Beate Fagerli a former member of the CEC Central Committee from Norway presented a follow up on the WCC 10th Assembly that was held in Busan, South Korea, in 2013. The presentation was moderated by Rev. Karin Wiborn of the Christian Council of Sweden.
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The Conference of European Churches (CEC) is a communion of 115 Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic Churches from all European countries, and 40 organisations in partnership. It was founded in 1959 and the CEC has offices in Geneva, Brussels and Strasbourg.
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CEC General Secretariat
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