its statutes with the amendments made to the Law on the status of the church. This decision came a few days after the President of Latvia, Egils Levits, tabled the bill saying that “this bill restores the historical status of the Orthodox Church of Latvia”, stressing that the independence of the Church established “by the 6(19) July 1921 Tomos issued by Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia Tikhon to Archbishop Jānis Pommers and the Cabinet of Ministers Regulation of 8 October 1926 on the Status of the Orthodox Church”. The Latvian Orthodox Church, after the presidential and parliamentary announcements, clarified that: Other Orthodox Christian groups in Latvia Besides the Patriarchate-affiliated church, Latvia has a number of Old Believer Orthodox Christian communities as well. The priestless congregation of the Grebenstchikov House of Prayer in Riga, affiliated with the Pomorian Old-Orthodox Church, is considered the oldest extant Old Believer congregation in the world. The Latvian Orthodox Autonomous Church, a part of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church (True Orthodox), is also present in Latvia. See also Ascension Church, Riga The Conversion (Seinfeld) Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church Pokrov Cemetery Religion in Latvia References External links Official Latvian Orthodox Church Website (Russian & Latvian Only) 1840s establishments in Latvia Eastern Orthodox Church bodies in Europe Religious organizations established in the 1840s Eastern Orthodox organizations established in the 19th century Christian denominations established in the 19th century Latvia Latvia