On Saturday 11th October, during the meeting of the Central Committee of the Conference of European Churches (Kek), the Orthodox Church of Moscow announced it will no longer be a member of the European body. The reason for such withdrawal states a release, published by the Patriarchate of Moscow is that the Central Committee of Kek refused to grant membership to the Orthodox Church of Estonia, an independent Church created in 1993 and related to the Patriarchate of Moscow. In the release, the Patriarchate points out that, beforehand, in November 2007, the Central Committee had granted membership to the "Apostolic Orthodox Church of Estonia", a Church created in 1996 by the Patriarchate of Constantinople (and not recognised by Moscow). In the release, the Patriarchate also questions the voting procedure, which led to the decision not to admit the Estonian Orthodox Church as a member, and acknowledges "with deep sorrow that Kek is losing its role of reconciliation and union, increasingly ignoring the voices of the Churches that are outside the European Union". The release ends by stating that the Orthodox Church of Russia will keep "developing good relations with the Churches that are members of Kek". (continued)
