Historical survey

Latvia became part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century. At this time, radical changes took also place in the territory of Latvia in terms of the relationship between the Church and the State, because the Orthodox Church in Russia was then part of the state administration apparatus. In 1710, after the capture of Rīga and the central part of Latvia (Vidzeme), an agreement was reached between the German aristocracy and the Russian state concerning the maintenance of the Lutheran Church and schools at the expense of the state, as well as about the free spread of Orthodoxy within the conquered territory. This juridical parity principle between the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the Russian Orthodox Church remained until the early 19th century, when the Russian Empire went down the path of ethnic and religious state unification. In 1832, this legal parity disappeared as the status of the Evangelical Lutheran Church was reduced (it became an established religional church), while the status of the Orthodox Church was increased (to that of established State church). The Orthodox Church became an important pillar of the Russian imperialist policy, facilitating the program of Russification. The Orthodox Church’s privileges were not taken away during the reform period of the 1860s, and Latvia was subjected to an unprecedented powerful and systematic Russification, combined with the imposition of Orthodoxy, in the 1880s-1890s. Historically, each ethnic group in Latvia had become entwined with one of the religious denominations, and, as a result of the policies implemented in the Russian Empire, the society became more markedly divided into a variety of ethnic and denominational groups.

With the subjugation of the entire territory of Latvia by Russia (1795), the construction of Orthodox churches in Latvia began, even though in 1800 only 0.6% of the population was Russian. In 1871, 147 Orthodox churches were operating in the Rīga Eparchy alone. The territory of Latvia was flooded with Russian bureaucrats, as a result of the Russification policy, and, from 1882, only the Russian language could be used within state institutions. In the late 19th century, a number of Latvians converted to Orthodoxy, adopting the Tsar’s religion for economic reasons. In the early 20th century, there were also Orthodox priests of Latvian ethnicity who served in Latvian Orthodox congregations. However, the state authorities of the Russian Empire did not trust these priests and tried to restrict their number.

The Tsar tried to save the monarchy during the 1905 revolution by restricting the Orthodox Church’s privileged status and by abolishing laws which discriminated against other denominations. The Orthodox Church in Latvia experienced antipathy and hostility due to the Russification policy, and it was drawn into the whirlpool of revolutionary events. During the First World War, religious slogans were advanced at the forefront of Russian imperial propaganda: “For orthodoxy!” and “For the unification of Orthodox Slavs!”. When the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed (1918), the new nation, for political reasons, looked on the Orthodox Church with suspicion. In 1920, the Council of Latvian Orthodox Congregations had to resolve the issue of the relationship with the Moscow Patriarchate, because the Orthodox Church in Latvia was part of the Moscow Patriarchate. The Latvian government was interested in achieving full autonomy for the Orthodox Church, and wanted it to be led by a bishop of Latvian ethnicity. The Moscow Patriarch gave the Latvian archbishop autonomy within the governance of the Latvian Orthodox Church (1921), but the Latvian government’s plan to canonically bind the Latvian Orthodox Church with Constantinople did not succeed. The Latvian Orthodox Church ended up once again under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1940, when the Republic of Latvia was occupied by the USSR. After the Second World War, Orthodox believers in Latvia experienced a similar repression and religious persecution as the members of other denominations. Along with forced industrialization, workers from Russia flooded the cities of Latvia. Orthodoxy became entrenched within the urban environment in Latvia for this reason, while the Old Believers dominated in rural Russian communities. When Latvia regained its independence, the Moscow Patriarch declared that the autonomy of the Latvian Orthodox Church was being renewed under the wing of the Moscow Patriarchate (1992).

D 2 February 2017    AAnita Stasulane

The majority of Old Believers moved to the territory of Latvia during the 18th century, to escape the violence of religious and secular officials of the Russian Empire. They proclaimed Old Believers the main enemies of the Russian Orthodoxy, and called them “splitters” (Raskolniki). The Old Believers were priestless (Bespopovtsy) and formed two groups – Fedoseyevtsy and Pomortsy (Pomorians). The communities mainly settled in Riga and Eastern Latvia. With the formation of the independent Republic of Latvia in the 1920s, Old Believers especially emphasized their loyalty to the new democratic country, and actively took part in internal politics.
Nowadays, Latvian Old Believers are united under the control of Latvian Old Believers’ Pomorian Church that tries to unify previously separated communities (about 70), and develop unique religious canons common to all Latvian Pomorians. Old Believers are also active in educational and research activities.

D 24 November 2015    AMaija Grizane

The first Jewish community was established in the late 16th century in Kurzeme, the Western part of Latvia, where Jews were allowed to purchase property and build prayer houses. Jews came from Western Ukraine and Belarus in the mid-17th century to the Eastern part of Latvia, Latgale. During the 18th century, when the Jewish community started forming in Riga, it flourished significantly, mainly due to the influx of immigrants from Prussia. According to All-Russia census of 1897, by the end of the 19th century, the Jewish community had increased to 3.5% of the population of Latvia, living predominantly in the largest cities: Riga, Daugavpils, and Liepaja.

Because of the wave of anti-Semitism which hit the Russian Empire after 1881, many Jews emigrated to the USA and Great Britain. By the end of World War I, when the independence of the Republic of Latvia was proclaimed (1918), Jews fought in the country’s War of Independence. During the 1920s–1930s, Jews were granted cultural and national autonomy. They developed their own institutions, including nine Jewish political parties. The religious life of Latvian Jews was highly active: there were about 200 Jewish religious communities in the country. One of the centres of Jewish culture and religion in the Eastern Europe was Daugavpils with more than 40 synagogues. By the end of the 1930s, about 93,000 Jews lived in Latvia. Most of them were Latvian citizens and spoke the state language, Latvian.

World War II had a catastrophic impact on Latvian Jews. Following the occupation of Latvia by the USSR (1940), the Soviet regime banned Jewish political parties, closed Jewish libraries and schools, curtailed religious activities, and nationalized many Jewish businesses. On June 14, 1941, more than 15,000 people (including about 2,000 Jews) were deported from Latvia to remote areas of the USSR, where the majority of them died in labour camps. When Nazi troops occupied Latvia in 1941, only 14,000 of Jews survived. The vast majority met their death in concentration camps, mass killing operations, or in the ghettos. In Riga, all the synagogues were burnt down, except the Peitavas Street synagogue (built in 1905 in the manner of Art Nouveau) because it was located in the Old Town, and there was a threat that the fire would spread to nearby buildings.
After WWII, it appeared that the wall of the synagogue, where the bookcase with Torah scrolls had been stored, had been concealed. In this way, the Torah scrolls were saved from destruction by a pastor from the nearby Reformed church.

During the Soviet period, it was one of the few synagogues working in the USSR. Jews from other regions of the Soviet Union migrated to Latvia, and by 1959, the Jewish community increased to more than 36,000 members. Jewish activists struggled for the right to leave for Israel, and in the 1970s, nearly 6,000 Jews emigrated to Israel, the USA, and Western Europe. Following regaining of Latvian independence in 1991, the Jewish communities were re-established.

Today, the Latvian Jewish community is the biggest in the Baltics, it numbers about 10,000 people, the majority of whom live in Riga while there are smaller Jewish communities elsewhere in Latvia. Although most of the Latvian Jews are non-observant, the historical synagogues are operating in Riga and Daugavpils, and there are discreet religious activities in other localities. In Daugavpils, a synagogue functions thanks to a gift from the family of Daugavpils-born painter Mark Rothko. With the support of the EU, the Latvian State, and the Latvian Council of Jewish Communities, the Peitavas Street synagogue, currently the only synagogue in Riga, was renovated in 2007-2008.

D 4 December 2015    AAnita Stasulane

Buddhism is a rather new phenomenon in the religious landscape of Latvia. Despite the fact that there has been interest in Oriental ideas and Buddhism from the early 20th century, (e.g. Karlis Tennisons, 1983–1962, was the first Buddhist monk in the Baltic States, and there was a small number of practising Buddhists in the 1980s) the settling in of Buddhist traditions and the active engagement of Latvians with Buddhism only began in the 1990s.
Currently, more than ten Buddhist groups, which represent a variety of Buddhist teachings, are active in Latvian urban areas. The majority of these groups belong to Tibetan Buddhism, such ideas having already reached the Baltic region in the Soviet period and attracting the imagination of religious seekers. In Latvia, Tibetan Buddhism is represented by three of its four schools: 1) the Nyingma school, namely, Dzogchen teaching groups: Padmaling and the Centre of Patrul Rinpoche; 2) the Kagyu school, which is represented by two Karma Kagyu groups: Diamond Way Buddhist Centre in Riga and Daugavpils; and three Drikung Kagyu groups: Drikung Jamze Ling Dharmachakra Centre, Riga Drikung Ngaden Choling and the Tibetan Meditation and Healing Centre Sorig; 3) the Gelug school: Ganden Buddhist Meditation Centre and Den Nyi Ling Retreat Centre.
The second Buddhist tradition that has set down its roots on Baltic soil is Zen, represented by two different Zen schools in Latvia: Korean Kwan Um Zen practiced at Riga Zen Centre and Rinzai Zen represented by One Drop Zendo Latvia.
The third, Theravada, has been represented by the Association of Theravada Buddhism for a long time now, but followers of the teaching of Goenka Vipassana appeared more recently, and the Meditation Centre Vihara has now been established.
Since the establishment of the first Buddhist groups in Latvia in the early 1990s, Buddhism has gone through a process, evolving from a simple philosophy found only in books to a legally acting religion. This is confirmed by the fact that four Buddhist communities operate as religious organizations. According to the most recent report from the Ministry of Justice in Latvia on the activity of religious organizations (dated 2014), 158 members in total are listed. Other existing groups are organized as societies or cultural organizations, therefore, the number of practitioners isgreater. Nevertheless, despite the general community’s low involvement in Buddhism, there is no doubt that it has found itself a stable place in the religious life of Latvia. In the more than twenty years of Buddhism’s existence, practitioners have organized groups with activities not only limited to religious practice, but also including public and political events, healing and education, as well as charity.

D 14 January 2016    AMarika Laudere

The 16th century Reformation also affected Livonia (today’s Latvia and Estonia), where Lutheranism spread due to the close ties with Northern Germany. Mutual disagreements between the Livonian Order, the Archbishopric of Rīga and the City of Rīga created a favourable climate for the spread of Lutheranism.

Rīga was the first city outside of Germany where Lutheranism spread: the first congregation was already formed in 1524. In contrast to the situation in Germany, Lutheranism did not develop into a peasant social movement in Latvia, as the German tradesmen and craftsmen of the City of Rīga and the Baltic German landlords played a decisive role in the spread of Lutheranism, while Lutheranism hadn’t yet reached the Latvian peasants. The spread of Lutheranism in Rīga had a forcible nature (1524-1525). As a result of the Reformation, the rift between Latvians and the Baltic Germans, between towns and countryside deepened. After the Livonian War (1558-1583) the territory of Latvia was subjugated by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which began the Counter-Reformation in Latvia.

In the 17th century, the Swedish, who extended protection to Lutheranism, began to rule over the central part of Latvia. During the denominational dispute period, the Latvian peasants began to practice their traditional religion actively. In the 18th century, when Latvia ended up within the Russian Empire, the Tsarist administration ensured support for itself by allocating special privileges to the Baltic German landlords and the Evangelical Lutheran Church. In the 19th century, the Evangelical Lutheran Church obtained the status of regional Church, while the Orthodox Church gained the status of State church. When the aggressive Russification policy commenced in Latvia in the 1880s -1890s, the Baltic Germans and the Evangelical Lutheran Church which represented its interests, began to support the development of a Latvian national consciousness.
Thus, the 1905 revolution had a deciding role in the secularization of Latvians: Lutheran priests, who defended the interests of the Baltic German landlords, took position against social-political changes, leading to increased anti-clericalism among the people. However, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was able to strengthen its positions after the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia (1918). The Lutherans, just like the Catholics, the Orthodox, and the Old Believers, had political parties which represented them within the parliament. In the 1920s-1930s, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was the largest in number and the most monolithic in ethnicity (the most Latvian) Christian denomination in Latvia. Even though the Baltic German Lutherans made up only 7% of the total number of Lutherans, there were no strained ethnic relations within the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Nervertheless, there was no shortage of disagreements with other denominations, mainly with the Roman Catholic Church over the ownership of church buildings. The so-called “denominational wars” over church buildings continued for 10 whole years. After the establishment of the authoritarian regime (1934), the Evangelical Lutheran Church had to fulfil the role of a supporter of the state ideology, even though the state was building a secular religion, which centred in the personality cult of the Prime Minister.

With the entry of the Soviet army into Latvia (1940), Lutheran priests were subjected to repression and persecution, which is why about 60% of Lutheran priests headed into exile at the end of the Second World War. The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad was founded in exile and continues to function in various countries and continents. The Soviet authorities nationalized Church properties in Latvia, restricted religious freedom: the only permitted form of activity was basically the Sunday service. Even though it wasn’t possible to avoid the control over the church by the Soviet authorities, a group of dissident priests developed in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and were actively involved in the Awakening Movement (1986-1991).

The activities of the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church were restored completely after Latvia regained its independence. Within the Church, recent discussions about the issue of female ordination and attitudes towards LGBT people have been controversial.

D 1 March 2017    AAnita Stasulane

The history of the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia began along with the conversion of the Baltic peoples to Christianity in the 12th century. Traders from Western Europe were interested in extending trade eastward and, thus, made regular trips to the Daugava estuary. Around 1182, Meinhard (1130/34-1196), a monk from the Segeberg monastery, also arrived there as a chaplain for German traders and began to preach Christianity to the Livs living on the banks of the Daugava. In 1184, the first Catholic church in Latvia was built at Ikšķile. The Archbishop of Bremen ordained Meinhard as Bishop (1186), with his Seat at Ikšķile, in this way creating the episcopatus Ixcolanensis. The Roman Catholic Church within Latvia achieved success with Bishop Albert von Appeldern (around 1165-1229) who founded Rīga (1201) and, being an energetic practitioner of realpolitik, attained his goals with the support of the knights.

According to information found in the Livonian Chronicle of Henry, in 1208, near the place where Valmiera currently stands, the Latgalians sought the advice of their gods concerning the type of Christianity that they should adopt: Eastern or Western Christianity. The decision of the gods was favourable to the West. The social relationships of Western Europe were introduced, along with adoption of Christianity in Latvia. The Livonian Confederation (the current Latvia and Estonia), which existed for about 400 years, contained the Roman Pope’s ecclesiastical states, of which the largest was the Livonian Order’s state. Along with the Reformation, the outcome of the Livonian War (1558-1583) and the Polish-Swedish War (1600-1629) determined Latvia’s denominational geography, but in practice, the principle of cuius regio, eius religio dominated. In the 17th and 18th century, Catholicism flourished through the activities of the Jesuits and the Dominicans in Latvia. The Roman Catholic church made its greatest strides in the eastern part of Latvia (in Latgale), where a great number of churches were quickly built, with the funding provided by the local landlords.

In the 19th century, Latvia’s Catholics fell out of favour with the Russia Tsar due to the Polish Uprising (1830-1831). The situation with the Catholic deteriorated even further after the Polish Rebellion of 1863: in the fight against the Poles, the Tsarist government also battled against the Latgalians and the Roman Catholic Church. 57.9% of the monasteries were closed, and more than 400 Catholic priests from the western province were deported to Siberia. The 1864 decree, which forbade the printing of books using Latin alphabet, remained in force right up to 1904. In practice, this “printing ban” applied only to Catholics in Latgale, as the Lutherans living in other parts of Latvia printed books using the Gothic script. The Tsarist government tried to reduce the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, taking churches away from Catholic congregations and handing them over to the Orthodox. The turning against the Catholics by the Russian Empire facilitated the confluence of the Polish ethnic and religious identity. A similar process also occurred with the Latvian of Latgale. This is why the National awakening in Latgale (1890s) was initiated by Catholic priests. When Latvia declared its independence in 1918, Latgale, which had been administratively split off from the rest of Latvia during the Tsarist Empire, was included in the new state.

For a long time, the country’s legislators were unable to agree on the most suitable model for the relationship between the State and the Church. The political role of the Roman Catholic Church increased, along with the joining of Catholic Latgale to the Latvian state, since one of the main demands of the Latgalians, prior to the unification with the other regions of Latvia, was the demand for a legal status for the Roman Catholic Church. As the Latvian Catholics were incorporated into dioceses which were located outside the territory of Latvia (the Catholics of Latgale and Vidzeme in the Mogilev Diocese, the Catholics of Kurzeme in the Žemaitija Diocese), the Vatican was interested in regulating the Roman Catholic Church’s situation in Latvia, so the Pope renewed the Rīga Bishopric (1918). In signing the Concordat (1922), the Latvian state guaranteed the Roman Catholic Church freedom of belief and worship, and also gave it legal rights. The state coup (1934) did not affect the internal life of the Roman Catholic Church, as the authoritarian regime did not dare to breach the Concordat. However, it did make strong demands on the national orientation of the Church, which was part of the program of Latvianization of the society. Because a significant number of priests of Polish or Lithuanian nationality served in the Catholic congregations, the Latvianization program did not work in the Roman Catholic Church and ethnic disharmony grew in the congregations. On the other hand, by introducing censorship and banning anti-religious propaganda, the authoritarian regime created favourable conditions for religious education. In the first year of the Soviet occupation (1940-1941), attacks on religion took place in different ways: nationalization of Church property, closing of religious organizations, and repression against priests and the most committed members of the congregations. After the Second World War, the Catholics had differing attitudes to the Soviet occupation: active resistance (involvement in partisan groups in the fight against the communist regime), passive resistance, and collaboration. The period of heavy restriction on the activities of the Roman Catholic Church (1958-1964) was replaced by the thaw. However, spying, recruiting, and repression, continued throughout all the Soviet regime. Catholic congregations were more resilient, and were more successful in continuing their activities, as compared to the Lutheran congregations which suffered the most during the communist years. After the collapse of the USSR, the Roman Catholic Church in Latvia immersed itself in the active construction of new church buildings.

D 1 March 2017    AAnita Stasulane