Cardinal Parolin holds audience with Estonia’s president at the Vatican

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin meets with President Alar Karis of Estonia at the Vatican on April 3, 2025, to discuss local and regional issues including prospects of ending the Russia-Ukraine war. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Apr 3, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin met with President Alar Karis of Estonia at the Vatican on Thursday morning to discuss local and regional issues including prospects of ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

During the April 3 audience, Parolin and Karis expressed appreciation for “good bilateral relations” between their two states as well as the “positive contribution” of local Catholic communities in the northern European nation.

Approximately 6,700 Catholics live in Estonia, accounting for 0.5% of the country’s total population. According to Statistics Estonia, the country’s 2022 census showed the Catholic population grew from 0.4% in 2011 to 0.8% in 2021.

The Vatican erected the Diocese of Tallinn, which is immediately subject to the Holy See and not a metropolitan archdiocese, in September 2024. The diocese replaced the Apostolic Administration of Estonia that was founded 100 years prior in 1924.

In 2018, Pope Francis visited Estonia during his apostolic journey to the Baltic States and, in 2024, appointed French-born Bishop Philippe Jourdan as the first local bishop of the country. Jourdan had served as apostolic administrator since 2005. 

The Holy See Press Office said that during the Thursday meeting, “satisfaction was also expressed regarding the imminent beatification of Archbishop Eduard Profittlich, a Jesuit martyr and Estonia’s first blessed.”

Profittlich, who served as the apostolic administrator for Estonia from 1931 to 1942, died in Kirov prison in Serbia after being captured and deported by Soviet authorities. The Soviet Union invaded and occupied the country in 1940.

The Vatican reported “bilateral, regional, and international issues were also discussed” during the audience with “particular reference to the prospects for an end to the war in Ukraine.”

Last year, Statistics Estonia reported the country’s population is increasing due to Ukrainian immigration. Following the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war on Feb. 24, 2022, approximately 44,480 Ukrainians migrated to Estonia, accounting for 73% of Ukrainian nationals living in the country.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, was also present at the April 3 meeting.