Chișinău, Moldova, August 30, 2024
MP Vasile Șoimaru called for the liquidation of the Moldovan Orthodox Church. Photo: zdg.md
There are no plans to liquidate the Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova (Moldovan Orthodox Church) of the Moscow Patriarchate, says Moldova’s ruling party.
Vasile Șoimaru, who has served in Moldovan Parliament in three separate periods, recently claimed on Moldovan television that, “The moment will come when we, like Ukraine, will renounce the Metropolis of Moldova, which is in fact Russian… This fall the issue will be resolved,” reports TASS.
Recall that for three decades, there have been two overlapping jurisdictions in Moldova: the Moscow Patriarchate’s Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova and the Romanian Orthodox Church’s Metropolis of Bessarabia, which have essentially tolerated each other since the latter was reestablished in 1991 by a bishop formerly of the Russian Church’s structure, though relations have deteriorated since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Moldova’s Party of Action and Solidarity issued a statement yesterday, distancing itself from Șoimaru’s claim. The MP was elected as a parliamentarian deputy in 2021 from the Party of Action and Solidarity without being a party member.
PAS distances itself from the statements of Deputy Vasile Șoimaru regarding the Metropolis of Moldova. The PAS government is not preparing any draft law or initiative that would liquidate the Metropolis. PAS supports both Metropolises and good understanding between parishioners. According to the Constitution of the Republic of Moldova, the Church is separate from the state, autonomous, and does not engage in political activities.
PAS’s position has been and remains the promotion of good understanding between all citizens of the Republic of Moldova, regardless of religion, culture, language, or ethnicity.
Deputy Adela Răileanu of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova remarked that “we can’t allow attacks on things that define this nation.”
“How can the country’s leadership justify its calls for unity and kindness when its own members launch attacks on the Church and faith?” Răileanu wondered.
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