Orthodox monks are the first to live and pray at a monastery in Estonia for 80 years

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — The ancient words of the Divine Liturgy echo in Estonian as Bishop Damaskinos, clad in flowing white and gold vestments, intones prayers in a small, dark chapel separated only by curtains from the bustling daily life of a new monastery nestled within a farmhouse.

Founded last year in one of Europe’s most secular societies, the Kirikla Orthodox Monastery is the first monastery the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church has established in decades.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the church has coexisted alongside a separate Orthodox church affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, which has a larger membership in the Baltic country. Even so, the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church has long sought to rebuild its own male monastic community within its own borders.

Bishop Damaskinos, the 41-year-old abbot, and his fellow monk, the Rev. Paisios, are the first monks to live, work and pray at the new monastery's farmhouse, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) outside the capital, Tallinn.

While the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church system currently has more than 60 churches, as well as a convent, the last Orthodox monks lived in Estonia more than 80 years ago during a period of independence between the world wars.

With the long-awaited return of a monastery, the daily prayers of Damaskinos and Paisios in the chapel go beyond the Baltics.

“The monastery’s meaning is also global in the sense that we pray for the whole world,” Damaskinos said.

Wearing a wide-brimmed straw hat and a black cassock, Damaskinos weeds a flower bed in the garden outside the farmhouse after the service, while Paisios, 31, works in the potato field with young volunteers who came to help the monks this summer.

There is little downtime in the monastery, as work alternates with services, prayers and spiritual talks, and even less time to look at a cellphone. Shielded from the stressful environment outside, the monks say they feel rested despite the routine. Their lifestyle appeals to young visitors of the monastery, Paisios said.

“They say, ‘It’s so nice to just put the phone away and not be focused on the phone the whole day, and just to get away from social media and everything and to be in the real world and connect with people,’” he added.

A country of about 1.3 million, Estonia has a very secular society. Yet Priit Rohtmets, an associate professor of church history at the University of Tartu, sees the first signs of growing interest in religion among young Estonians, raised without the anti-religious prejudices fostered during the Soviet era, when religion was stigmatized and most monasteries were closed.

“They don’t have any bad experience with religion, they don’t have any experience with religion at all,” Rohtmets said. “This, of course, gives a chance for religious communities.”

When a person wants to become a monk, he has to first stay in a monastery as a novice for up to three years and follow the same daily routine as the other monks. When the abbot thinks the novice is ready, he takes vows of poverty, chastity and obedience, receives a new name and commits to live as a monk for the rest of his life.

Unlike Orthodox priests, who may marry before ordination and live in parishes, monks must remain celibate and stay in monasteries.

Though Damaskinos and Paisios are currently the Kirikla Monastery's only monks, the bishop said he is not worried about the number.

“What we are worried about is the spiritual quality of the monks,” he said, “that the monks actually take seriously their task of praying for the whole world.”

The monks follow the rhythms Damaskinos first learned as a monk at Mount Athos in Greece, a center of Christian Orthodox monasticism for more than 1,000 years. The day starts at dawn with solitary prayers before the morning group service, and continues with the daily work of gardening or construction. The only free time is in the evening, after a second service.

While the monks are still settling into their new home, they open their doors on certain days. Through social media, they invite visitors and pilgrims to join their services, rest from the hectic world and see a different kind of lifestyle.

“Monastic life is difficult, but through all these difficulties we find true happiness,” Damaskinos said. “So I hope that when people come here they see the happiness that we represent.”

While Kirikla Monastery is the only Orthodox one in the country, other faiths have established their own monastic communities in Estonia. A Dominican order returned to a small monastery in Tallinn in 1996 and a Theravada Buddhist monastery is located on Aegna Island.

Founding a new monastery is rare in Europe in 2026. Some are closing altogether as fewer monks take their vows. So the Kirikla Monastery's success, even on such a small scale, is heartening to the Orthodox faithful as well as religious scholars.

Even though the monastery does not have any other buildings yet besides its farmhouse — which was donated by a local businessman — Damaskinos' priority is to plan for the future. To earn income, the monks may sell their garden's produce or crafts like candles or incense. But the bishop is more concerned about the spiritual world rather than the physical realm.

“What interests me more, rather than finishing the buildings, is to finish building the brotherhood,” he said. “It's a work that never finishes, but at least it creates a good basis for monastic continuation here in Estonia.”

The Associated Press religion coverage receives support through collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Estonia Monastery Rev. Paisios drives a riding lawn mower at the newly founded Kirikla Orthodox Monastery in Pihali village, Estonia, on July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Estonia Monastery Rev. Paisios gives an interview at the newly founded Kirikla Orthodox Monastery in Pihali village, Estonia, on July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Estonia Monastery Rev. Paisios and volunteers weed a potato field at the newly founded Kirikla Orthodox Monastery in Pihali village, Estonia, on July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Estonia Monastery Bishop Damaskinos speaks during an interview with the Associated Press in the chapel of the newly founded Kirikla Orthodox Monastery in Pihali village, Estonia, on July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Estonia Monastery Bishop Damaskinos, centre left, prays during the Divine Liturgy in the chapel of the newly founded Kirikla Orthodox Monastery in Pihali village, Estonia, on July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Laura Loomer, an ardent ally of President Donald Trump with a reputation for incendiary social media commentary, sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday after a dramatic turnaround on the war that could have political reverberations back in Washington.

Loomer had spent years minimizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine and amplifying Russian propaganda to her nearly 2 million followers. This week she had a change of heart.

“Just experienced my first air raid in Ukraine. Sirens blaring. This is everyday for every Ukrainian,” Loomer wrote on X during her visit to the country. “I often said I don’t care. Looking back, that wasn’t very nice of me to say.”

“We need to have moral clarity,” she added Thursday.

It was a stunning reversal for a woman who had spent years criticizing U.S. support for Ukraine's defense, declaring it “a country full of Nazi apologists” — a claim used by Russia to justify its yearslong invasion — and “led by a Jihadi apologist.”

The skepticism of Ukraine has been shared by other major conservative influencers, including former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. The issue became a major point of contention between more traditional Republicans, like former Vice President Mike Pence, and Trump's MAGA base. Vice President JD Vance was among the earliest and most vocal critics of continued U.S. military aid to the country, and he and Trump clashed with Zelenskyy in a heated Oval Office meeting.

It was unclear what had prompted Loomer's trip or how she had arranged the meeting with Zelenskyy, which she plugged as an interview for her Rumble show, “Loomer Unleashed.”

She posted a photo of the two and later a clip from the interview in which she asked Zelenskyy about the Oval Office confrontation and how his relationship with Trump seemed to have improved since then. Zelenskyy credited a brief conversation at the Vatican for the detente — one he called a “historic moment, because we changed the relations during 15, 20 minutes.”

Loomer and the White House did not respond to requests for comment on the trip, but Trump gave his stamp of approval on social media.

“Very good!!!” he wrote on Thursday evening.

The meeting was confirmed earlier by Dmytro Lytvyn, a spokesperson for the president, who said that no Ukrainian government institution had organized the visit. He added that Zelenskyy's office first learned that Loomer was in Ukraine through social media.

“It is really important that @LauraLoomer is in Ukraine and sees things with her own eyes as they are,” Zelenskyy's office had written Tuesday.

“It takes courage to come to Ukraine and not be deterred by Russian propaganda or air raid sirens. Thank you, Laura,” the office added Thursday.

In addition to the meeting with Zelenskyy, Loomer also visited the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, one of the country’s most significant religious landmarks, which came under Russian attack last month.

The attack on the monastic complex of golden domes in the heart of Kyiv, which is also known as the Monastery of the Caves, sparked a fire that caused significant interior and exterior damage, according to UNESCO. Zelenskyy had called it Moscow’s “biggest crime yet against Christian culture.”

Russia denied responsibility for the attack, claiming, without offering evidence, that the complex was hit by one of Ukraine’s U.S.-made Patriot air defense missiles — saying that it might have veered off course due to its age.

In a video recorded from inside the church, Loomer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of hypocrisy by portraying Russia as pro-Christian.

“I just don’t think that you should be allowed to say that you’re protecting Christianity if you’re trying to drone strike Jesus Christ,” she said.

Sergiy Kyslytsya and Tetyana Berezhna, two top Ukrainian officials, were among those who met with Loomer and joined her for the visit.

The meeting comes amid continued hostilities between Russia and Ukraine that have been overshadowed in recent months by the war with Iran.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday at an annual gathering of foreign ministers in Manila that the administration is poised to help end the “senseless war” in Ukraine but acknowledged there was no quick path to a deal.

Colvin reported from New York.

FILE - Right-wing activist Laura Loomer, April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)