The Orthodox Church of Moldova, affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, defrocked 11 priests who switched jurisdiction to the smaller Metropolis of Bessarabia, linked to the Romanian Patriarchate.
The defrocking prompted a response from the Metropolis of Bessarabia, which argued that the measure lacks “canonical validity” because the priests “have not belonged, for many years, to the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate”.
“The acts issued against them constitute not only a clear defiance of the canonical order of the Church, but also a grave offence against the Body of Christ and the principle of religious freedom, on which the life of the Church throughout the world is founded,” the Metropolis of Bessarabia stated in a statement.
The decision to defrock the priests, taken at a Holy Synod meeting chaired by Metropolitan Vladimir of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, triggered a broader challenge from the Metropolis of Bessarabia, which challenged the canonical standing of the Russia-linked Orthodox Church, calling it a “pro-Moscow structure” and arguing that the use of the name “Orthodox Church of Moldova” is inappropriate and both historically and canonically inaccurate.
“This name designates only a local church structure of the Moscow Patriarchate, without any basis of jurisdiction over the entire space of the Republic of Moldova and even less over the entire historical Moldova,” it said.
“[This] misleads public opinion, claiming representativeness over the entire Orthodox ecclesiastical organisation on the territory of historical Moldova.”
Around 95 per cent of Moldovan citizens adhere to Eastern Orthodoxy. Moldova’s pro-EU President Maia Sandu, who was re-elected last month, has repeatedly warned about the Russia-linked Church being used by Moscow to carry out hybrid interference in Moldova’s democratic processes, including the recent elections.
In its own statement, the Orthodox Church of Moldova condemned the rhetoric used by the Metropolis of Bessarabia and rejected the claim that it is under Moscow’s control. It specified that it enjoys a considerable degree of independence in its governance as outlined in the 1994 “Tomos [document] of independence”, issued by Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow.
The Orthodox Church of Moldova is not a “Russian Church”, it insisted. “It is the Church of the entire people living in the Republic of Moldova, made up of believers of different ethnicities.”