Chișinău, Moldova, October 18, 2021
Photo: coe.int
Moldovan Parliament ratified the controversial “Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence,” commonly known as the Istanbul Convention, on its final reading on Friday.
The document had the approval of 54 members of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity out of the 101 seats, reports Interfax.
It is widely considered that while the document has the good intention of combating domestic violence, it also contains troubling gender ideology teachings and opens the door for attacks on religious freedom.
Earlier this month, the Moldovan Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate issued a statement calling for the government to reject the Convention, noting that while it has praiseworthy elements, it also unfortunately departs from the Biblical conception of mankind.
The Bulgarian and Polish Orthodox Churches have also voiced opposition to the Convention’s conception of gender.
The Convention has proven controversial for other governments as well, seen as a Trojan Horse to introduce a “third sex” and “gay marriage.” The Constitutional Court of Bulgaria even declared the Convention unconstitutional in 2018, as the Moldovan Church emphasizes in its statement.
Among Moldovan parliamentarians, members of the Electoral Bloc of Communists and Socialists opposed ratification and unsuccessfully tried to have the issue removed from the agenda.
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