The Council of the Latvian Orthodox Church, which was held in Riga on October 20, sent a request to Patriarch Kirill for this church to receive autocephaly and made appropriate changes to the statute of the LOC.

The initiative to separate the Latvian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church, however, was not initially revealed by priests, but by the President of Latvia, Egil Levits. The head of state submitted to the Latvian parliament amendments to the law «On the Latvian Orthodox Church», according to which the Latvian Orthodox Church was proposed to act independently and not have ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. The Seimas adopted this law on September 8.

But Latvian politicians emphasized that they are not making an attempt on the canonical status of the Latvian Church, it is only about state regulation of administrative issues. If we draw parallels, the president and the Sejm of Latvia offered the Latvian Orthodox Church the status that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate already had. As is known, the UOC MP officially considered itself independent as a religious organization, but remained in canonical unity with the Russian Orthodox Church.

However, now the Latvian Church has gone further. Further than the UOC MP, which has never asked the Moscow Patriarch for autocephaly and does not believe that such autocephaly for the Ukrainian Church can be granted by the Patriarch of Constantinople. The LOC decided to immediately appeal to Patriarch Kirill. That is, to contribute to the fact that canonical status was added to its political and administrative independence.

How will the Moscow Patriarchate act? So far, the Russian capital is silent. On October 21, the Russian Orthodox Church said that they had not yet received official appeals from the Russian Orthodox Church. «We will receive it – we will react at the appropriate level,» said the head of the synodal department of the Moscow Patriarchate regarding the church’s relations with society and the media, Volodymyr Legoida.

What will happen if Moscow decides to refuse the Latvian Orthodox Church or ignore the appeal of its cathedral? Most likely, then a new church split will begin – like in Ukraine. The LOC will remember that there was a period when Latvia was considered the canonical territory of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and will turn to Constantinople for autocephaly. And it depends on Patriarch Bartholomew whether he will agree with his right to grant autocephaly for the Latvian Orthodox Church or wait for Moscow’s consent this time. Although if we recall the entire difficult history of relations between the Ecumenical Patriarch and the Moscow Patriarchate in recent years, it is unlikely that this wait will be long.

The most important conclusion that can be drawn from the decisions of the Council in Riga is about the «toxicity» of the Moscow Patriarchate. The very connection with the Russian Orthodox Church, after its patriarch and higher clergy came out in support of the war, creates serious reputational risks for foreign parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, the flight of the Latvian Orthodox Church away from Moscow is only the beginning of the collapse.