Representatives of the Metropolis of Moldova and Bessarabia Conduct Contradictory Discussions

The Metropolis of Bessarabia is ready to accept all priests willing to take this step and categorically rejects any accusations that priests transferring to the Metropolis of Bessarabia are allegedly corrupted by salaries from the Romanian state. This is stated by representatives of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, canonically subordinated to the Romanian Patriarchate. On the other hand, representatives of the Metropolis of Chisinau and All Moldova, canonically subordinated to the Russian Patriarchate, claim that the number of priests who betrayed the Moldovan Metropolis and moved to the Metropolis of Bessarabia is much lower than reported in the press, IPN notes. Recently, a group of priests led by priest Pavel Borschevsky from St. Dumitru Church in Chisinau appealed to Metropolitan Vladimir to begin the process of joining the Moldovan Metropolis to the Romanian Patriarchate. This comes after several parishes moved to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, expressing their opposition to the Russian Patriarchate supporting the war in Ukraine. “The Metropolis of Bessarabia remains as receptive to everything that the admission of priests to our Metropolis means. The Church must preach unity. We are not corrupting anyone. This year alone, a decision was made to allocate 2 million euros, which will be distributed, as it should be, to all three dioceses, for the construction of cathedrals and for missionary activities. Until now, only some donations have been received from the Romanian state for the priests of the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The contributions we receive from the Romanian state are intended for the activities we conduct on the country’s territory,” the representative of the Metropolis of Bessarabia, Priest Ion Marian, said during the programme “Cabinetul din Umbră” on JurnalTV. Yesterday, after a meeting with archpriests and abbots of monasteries, at which the appeal of the “Borschevsky group” was considered, it was announced that the Metropolis of Chisinau and All Moldova maintains its unity and refuses to join the Romanian Patriarchate. “The discussion was closed very clearly and very firmly; everything was put in its place. Each archpriest spoke to the priests of his parish, and what happened at the meeting was nothing but the representation of the people’s voice. We still hear the voice of the people: opinion polls show that the desire of Moldovan citizens to unite with Romania has decreased. We talk about uniting the country with Romania and the Church with Romania, and surprisingly, the citizens remain united. At the meeting, archpriests and abbots of monasteries expressed the opinion of their parishes. There was information that 60 parishes have transferred to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, but in the last year, 13 parishes have transferred in the whole Moldova,” said Archpriest Iulian Rata, representative of the Metropolis of Chisinau and All Moldova. “The appeal of the priests, led by priest Borschevsky, said that it was time to listen to the voice of the people. But after the curtain was drawn, it turned out that nobody listened to the people’s voice. They said they voted unanimously, which seems strange to me, as there was a group that expressed a different opinion,” said publicist and writer Mircea V. Ciobanu. According to a report published on the Facebook page of the St. Dumitru Church, headed by Pavel Borschevsky, during the meeting in the Moldovan Metropolis “the decision on the unity of the Orthodox Church of Moldova was unanimously adopted, while the question of joining the Romanian Patriarchate remains open.”