Hi David, and thanks for your professional analysis!
I would like to add a note to the subject of the church's involvement in politics:
In Moldova there are not one, but three Orthodox churches:
A) The Metropolitan Church of Chisinau and the entire of Moldavia: the most numerous, with a certain degree of internal autonomy and which is part of the Russian Patriarchate. Obviously, their attitude towards the current leaders of the country is what you want, but not Christian! (As well as their attitude towards the anti-Covid vaccine, towards the former socialist and communist leadership, etc.).
B) The Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and the Exarchate of (Eastern) Lands: in full expansion, currently reaching approx. 27% of Moldovan Orthodox believers. It is an autonomous metropolis that preserves the old style calendar (Julian) and is subordinated to the Romanian Patriarchate. It obviously implements the directives given by the Patriarch of Romania, which means that it does not interfere in the politics of Moldavia, instead it has a pro-science (medical) attitude, urging people to respect and listen to the advice of doctors (related to Covid, but not only ).
C) Archdiocese of Eastern Moldavia: the smallest Orthodox diocese in Moldavia, canonically belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (autocephalous).
Moldavia, as a country, has no national and autocephalous (Orthodox) church. Therefore, those who self-identify, from an ethnic point of view, as Romanians, attend the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia, the Russians attend the Chisinau Metropolitanate, and the Ukrainians the Eastern Moldavian Metropolitanate. Those who believe that Moldavians are not Romanians, but a distinct people with a different language, also attend the Russian ecclesiastical structure. There are, of course, exceptions.
It would be interesting if you developed this topic in one of the special editions of Moldova Matters ...
Hi David, and thanks for your professional analysis!
I would like to add a note to the subject of the church's involvement in politics:
In Moldova there are not one, but three Orthodox churches:
A) The Metropolitan Church of Chisinau and the entire of Moldavia: the most numerous, with a certain degree of internal autonomy and which is part of the Russian Patriarchate. Obviously, their attitude towards the current leaders of the country is what you want, but not Christian! (As well as their attitude towards the anti-Covid vaccine, towards the former socialist and communist leadership, etc.).
B) The Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia and the Exarchate of (Eastern) Lands: in full expansion, currently reaching approx. 27% of Moldovan Orthodox believers. It is an autonomous metropolis that preserves the old style calendar (Julian) and is subordinated to the Romanian Patriarchate. It obviously implements the directives given by the Patriarch of Romania, which means that it does not interfere in the politics of Moldavia, instead it has a pro-science (medical) attitude, urging people to respect and listen to the advice of doctors (related to Covid, but not only ).
C) Archdiocese of Eastern Moldavia: the smallest Orthodox diocese in Moldavia, canonically belonging to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (autocephalous).
Moldavia, as a country, has no national and autocephalous (Orthodox) church. Therefore, those who self-identify, from an ethnic point of view, as Romanians, attend the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia, the Russians attend the Chisinau Metropolitanate, and the Ukrainians the Eastern Moldavian Metropolitanate. Those who believe that Moldavians are not Romanians, but a distinct people with a different language, also attend the Russian ecclesiastical structure. There are, of course, exceptions.
It would be interesting if you developed this topic in one of the special editions of Moldova Matters ...