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The President of the Republic At the awarding ceremony of the International Foundation of the Unity of Orthodox Peoples prize On January 21, 2005 in Moscow
21.01.2005


Your Holiness,
Honourable Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia,
Honourable members of the International Foundation of the Unity of Orthodox Peoples
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen!

Allow me to express my deepest thanks for the high award given to me by the International Foundation of the Unity of Orthodox Peoples. I was born and brought up in a family, which followed Christian traditions, and therefore this high recognition very much touches my heart.

Being the President of Estonia I consider this award as an expression of recognition to the Estonian state, which will be 87 years old next month - an expression of recognition from an old Church with thousands of years long Christian tradition. That tradition has educated and shaped all of us by many different ways.

Dear participants,

The events that preceded the turn of the year proved us once again that temporal things pass away and that what exceeds the boundaries of nature stays.

Though a majority of people of our generation was left without Christian education, the moral of our grandparents and grand-grandparents with Christian upbringing was still dominating at our homes. In our changed world our responsibility is to protect the basic values of life, it is our task to take life forward but doing so not to forget to look back at the past.

At every single moment the fate of the world is being decided. Therefore I would like to emphasise that we have to choose the most superior amongst the possible variants. In spite of anything we must follow the principle that in big things we have to have accord and in all things we have to have love. This would help us to understand each other and find solutions in difficult situations. As individuals we are presumably free to make our choices. The irresponsible use of freedom of choice could lead to a situation where it would take years to restore all that is right, lasting and valuable.

Honourable Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia,

Receiving this award I think with a feeling of gratitude about the work you did as a priest and metropolitan in Estonia. Herewith I would like to point out also the founding of the Estonian Council of Churches, which took place in the Dormiton (Pukhtitsa) Convent in Kuremäe 16 years ago. The Estonian Council of Churches has become a forum for different ways of Christian thinking and traditions in Estonia. Among the members and the ecumenical core of the Council there are representatives of Estonians, Russians, Armenians, Ukrainians, Finns and other ethnic communities living in Estonia.

I will donate the monetary prize, which is a part of the high award given to me by the International Foundation of the Unity of Orthodox Peoples to the Estonian Council of Churches to be used for charitable purposes.

Please accept my heartfelt thanks!


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