Pope Francis has elevated the Apostolic Administration of Estonia to the status of a diocese, creating the first Catholic diocese in the Baltic country.
The Vatican made the announcement on Sept. 26, coinciding with the start of the pope’s apostolic journey to Luxembourg and Belgium.
The newly established Diocese of Tallinn encompasses the entire territory of Estonia and remains immediately subject to the Holy See. The pope appointed the current apostolic administrator, Philippe Jean-Charles Jourdan, as the first bishop of the new diocese.
Jourdan, 64, a native of France, has led the Catholic community in Estonia since 2005. In a recent interview with Omnes, he discussed the historical context of the Catholic presence in Estonia.
“Although we are now celebrating 100 years of apostolic administration, this does not mean that Catholics arrived in 1924. We have had a Catholic presence in Estonia since the 13th century.”
The official website of the Church in Estonia retells the historic roots of Christianity in the region: “At the beginning of the 13th century, Estonia was conquered by the German Teutonic Order during the Livonian Crusade and thus was one of the last territories in Europe to be Christianized.”
According to the latest census in 2021, Catholics make up approximately 0.8% of the Estonian population. Jourdan noted the growth of the Catholic community in recent decades.
From “five [Estonian Catholics] in the 1970s, we have grown more than a thousandfold today. It has been a great grace of God.”
The bishop also highlighted the challenges faced by Catholics during the Soviet occupation: “Many fled and others were killed or deported, like my predecessor [Archbishop] Eduard Profittlich, who died in prison. The Catholic Church survived, but with great suffering for more than 40 years.”
Estonia, known as “Maarjamaa” or “Land of Mary,” has retained this name despite its predominantly Lutheran history.
Jourdan explained: “For some reason, Our Lady has remained in the language even after the Reformation. I have researched the consecration of Estonia to Our Lady by Innocent III, and apparently we are the second country in the world consecrated to Our Lady.”
The Holy See Press Office stated that the creation of the Diocese of Tallinn “testifies to the stability of the situation of the Catholic Church in Estonia and is also a recognition by the Catholic Church of the pastoral and organizational maturity of the Estonian Catholic community.”
Marge-Marie Paas, communications director of the new Diocese of Tallinn, wrote in a contribution for Vatican News that the change “means that the local Catholic Church in Estonia has developed the human, material, and spiritual resources necessary to fully assume the responsibilities of a diocese.”
Paas added that the elevation to a diocese “is also an acknowledgment of the growth and importance of the Estonian Catholic community in Estonia, while also strengthening its spiritual and missionary spirit among the people of God in the territory of the Estonian Republic.”
The Apostolic Administration of Estonia was originally established by Pope Pius XI in 1924. At that time, the Catholic community numbered about 2,000 faithful. The elevation to a diocese comes as the Catholic Church in Estonia marks its centennial year as an independent ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
This article was originally published on Catholic News Agency.
