Kuno Pajula (before 1936 Kuno Preis; 11 March 1924 – 26 November 2012) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n prelate who served as the Archbishop of Tallinn and Primate of the

Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELC; Estonian: ''Eesti Evangeelne Luterlik Kirik'', abbreviated EELK) is a Lutheran church in Estonia. The EELC is member of the Lutheran World Federation and belongs to the Community of Protestant Ch ...

between 1987 and 1994.

Early life and education

Pajula was born in

Käru Käru is a small borough () in Türi Parish, Järva County, Estonia. Before the administrative reform in 2017, Käru was the administrative centre of Käru Parish. Käru has a railway station on the Tallinn - Viljandi railway line operated by ...

Virumaa Virumaa (; Low German: ''Wierland''; Old Norse: ''Virland'') is a former independent county in Ancient Estonia. Now it is divided into Ida-Viru County or Eastern Vironia and Lääne-Viru County or Western Vironia. Vironians built many strongh ...

, the son of August Pajula and Amanda Alber. Between 1931 and 1942 he studied at

and Salla Primary School and Väike-Maarja Gymnasium. He studied at the

Institute of Theology of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church The Institute of Theology of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (, or ) is a private university in Tallinn, Estonia, established in 1946. It is situated next to the Church of the Holy Spirit, Tallinn. See also *List of universities in Es ...

between 1949 and 1959. In 1960/61 he went for further training at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

Ministry

He was ordained priest on 24 May 1950 by Archbishop

Jaan Kiivit Sr. Jaan Kiivit Senior (27 February 1906 – 3 August 1971) was an Estonian prelate who was the Archbishop of Tallinn and the first primate of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1949 and 1967, after the break away from the exiled Estonian ...

St. Mary's Cathedral, Tallinn St. Mary's Cathedral (, , full name: The Episcopal Cathedral of the Holy Virgin Mary, Tallinn, ) is a Lutheran cathedral church located on the Toompea hill in the medieval central part of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. Established in the ...

. Between 1949 and 1950 and again between 1954 and 1957, he served as pastor of the parishes of

Illuka Illuka is a village in Ida-Viru County in Alutaguse Parish in northeastern Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) It was the administrative centre of Illuka Parish Illuka Parish () was an Estonian municipality located in Ida-Viru County. It had a ...

and

Iisaku Iisaku () is a small borough (') in northeastern Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru county in Alutaguse Parish, around 30 km south from the town of Jõhvi. Iisaku was the administrative centre of Iisaku Parish. As of the 2011 census, the s ...

. In 1950 he transferred to

Kursi, Jõgeva County Kursi is a village in Põltsamaa Parish, Jõgeva County in Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) It's located about northeast of Puurmani, by the Pedja River. Kursi has a population of 54 (as of 10 April 2006). Kursi Church is a mixture of Baroqu ...

to become pastor of the parish church. Between 1954 and 1956 he was also responsible for the

Alexander's Cathedral Alexander's Church () is a church of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in Narva, Estonia. Narva Church's original cornerstone was laid in summer 1881. It was congregated after Emperor Alexander II in fall 1883, after his assassination ear ...

and in 1957 he became pastor of

St. John's Church, Tallinn St. John's Church () is a large Lutheran parish church in Tallinn, Estonia. It is dedicated to John the Evangelist, Saint John the Evangelist, a disciple of Jesus Christ and author of the fourth Christian Gospel. Construction began in 1862, and th ...

, where he remained till 1987.

Archbishop

On 11 June 1987 the Church council elected Pajula Archbishop and Primate. He was consecrated on 15 November 1987 by

John Vikström John Edvin Vikström (born 1 October 1931) is a Finnish priest. He served as the Archbishop of Turku and Finland from 1982 to 1998. Personal life John Edvin Vikström was born to parents Edvin and Hilma Vikström. In 1957 he married teacher Birg ...

Archbishop of Turku and Finland and co-consecrated by Karl-Gunnar Grape Bishop of Skara; Olav Christian Lindegaard Bishop of Haderslev;

Fredrik Grønningsæter Fredrik Grønningsæter (26 May 1923 – 28 April 2016) was a bishop of the Diocese of Sør-Hålogaland from 1982 until 1992. Grønningsæter was born in Stranda Municipality in Sunnmøre, Norway on 26 May 1923. He was the son of Fredrik ...

Bishop of Sør-Hålogaland; Jan Michalko General Bishop of the Slovak Evangelical Lutheran Church; Dieter Knall Bishop of the

Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria The Protestant Church of the Augsburg Confession in Austria (Evangelische Kirche Augsburgischen Bekenntnisses in Österreich) is a Lutheran denomination in Austria. It is a member of the Lutheran World Federation, which it joined in 1947. It is al ...

; and Gyula Nagy Bishop of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Hungary (ELCH; ) is a Protestant Lutheran denomination in Hungary. In 2019, there were 176,000 baptized members. The church has three dioceses, with nearly 300 parishes and 500 places of worship in Hungary, and ...

."Piiskopiamet Eesti kirikus"
''

''. Retrieved on 30 May 2019. He retired on 29 June 1994. He was the first President of the Estonian Council of Churches in 1989-1993 and member of the Central Committee of the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

1983–1992.

References

External links

Official biography at the homepage of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church
1924 births 2012 deaths People from Väike-Maarja Parish Lutheran archbishops of Tallinn 20th-century Lutheran archbishops 21st-century Lutheran archbishops Estonian theologians {{Lutheran-bishop-stub