Metropolis of Bessarabia | |
|---|---|
 Organization of the Metropolis ofBessarabia | |
| Location | |
| Territory |  Moldova |
| Headquarters | Chișinău |
| Statistics | |
Population
|
|
| Information | |
| Denomination | Eastern Orthodox |
| Sui iuris church | Romanian Patriarchate (Autonomous Metropolis) |
| Established | 1918 |
| Language | Romanian |
| Current leadership | |
| Bishop | Metropolitan Petru |
| Website | |
| mitropoliabasarabiei.md | |
TheMetropolis of Bessarabia (Romanian:Mitropolia Basarabiei), also referred to as theBessarabian Orthodox Church,[1] is anautonomousEastern Orthodox Metropolitanbishopric of theRomanian Orthodox Church, situated in Moldova. Its canonical jurisdiction is the territory of the Republic ofMoldova, and over theMoldovan andRomanian Orthodox diaspora from the former USSR.[2]
The Metropolis ofBessarabia was created in 1918, as theArchbishopric ofChișinău, and organized as aMetropolis, in 1927.[3] Inactive during theSoviet occupation of Bessarabia (1940–1941) and theSoviet rule in Moldova (1944–1991), the Metropolis of Bessarabia was re-activated on 14 September 1992, and raised to the rank ofexarchate, in 1995. The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia isPetru (Păduraru).[4]
In 1812, after theannexation ofBessarabia by theRussian Empire, the Orthodox churches were re-organized as the Eparchy of Chişinău and Hotin, from the churches and monasteries of theMetropolis of Moldavia on that territory that no longer belonged to thePrincipality of Moldavia, byGavril Bănulescu-Bodoni, a popular promoter of Moldavian/Romanian language and culture, who also served as its first archbishop. After 1821, the Russian state and church started an extended policy ofRussification.[5]
In 1858, after southern Bessarabia wasreturned to Moldavia, which soon united withWallachia to formRomania, the Orthodox churches in Cahul, Bolgrad, and Ismail re-entered under the Romanian Church jurisdiction of theMetropolis of Moldavia, which established the Diocese of the Lower Danube, in 1864.[6] In 1878, after Russiare-annexed southern Bessarabia, the Russian Church jurisdiction was reinstated.
In 1918, after theUnion of Bessarabia with Romania, the archbishopAnastasius Gribanovsky of the Eparchy of Chişinău was ousted after he refused to accede to Romania's demand to secede from the Russian Orthodox Church and integrate the eparchy in the Romanian one. With the advent ofGreater Romania in 1918, there were three church bodies: the autocephalousRomanian Orthodox Church (on the territory ofSmaller Romania—prior to 1918—formed in 1872 from the union of theMetropolis of Ungrovlahia with Metropolis of Moldavia), and the non-autocephalous Metropolis of Bessarabia andMetropolis of Transylvania. Therefore, in 1925, the rank of the Romanian Orthodox Church was raised to that of a Patriarchate, with the Metropolis of Bessarabia as one of its five sees.Gurie Grosu was the first Metropolitan of Bessarabia, andEfrem Enăchescu the second.
After theSoviet occupation of Bessarabia in 1940, the church, which then was a non-autonomous Metropolis, was banned, and its property has either changed uses, or was transferred to theRussian Orthodox Church, which established theBishopric in Chişinău and Moldova. In 1980s, two more bishoprics were added, and the See raised to the status of the Archdiocese, in 1990, and as theMetropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova, in 1992.
After Moldova's independence in 1991, part of the clergy followed Petru Păduraru, the Bishop ofBălţi, and re-established the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The Romanian Orthodox Church considered that, during the time, the Russian Orthodox Church jurisdiction on the former territory of Bessarabia was anunfair and abusive act in terms of historical reality and canon law, and as long as it remains under the Russian Orthodox Church, the jurisdiction right of the Metropolis of Chișinău and All Moldova can be exercised only to theRussian ethnics of Moldova.[7]
The Russian Orthodox Church also refused to recognize the authority of the Bessarabian church, and the two metropolia started an uneasy co-existence. During the 1990s, the one subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church gained the protection of the country's authorities and established itself as the official church, while the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia was refused registration according to the country's new law of religions. In 2004, after years of legal hurdles and a final decision by theEuropean Court of Human Rights, theOrthodox Church of Bessarabia received official registration, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova recognizing it as "the spiritual, canonical, historical successor of the Metropolitan See of Bessarabia which functioned till 1944, including".[8] About 20% of country's Orthodox churches were or changed to be under its jurisdictions; a strong desire to similar moves has been expressed in many other parishes.[citation needed]
This decision continues to be a major area of tension with the Russian Orthodox Church. The position of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the dispute with the Russian Orthodox Church over the territorial jurisdiction is, according to a press release, that the two Metropolitan Sees should "peacefully co-exist and brotherly cooperate (…) harmonising, with wisdom and realism, the territorial principle with the ethnic principle, as agreed in the pastoral service of the Orthodox in Diaspora."[8]
In June 2023, Romania'sPrime MinisterMarcel Ciolacu announced that Romania will fund the Metropolis of Bessarabia with 2 million euros per year.[9][10]
The church is currently recognized only by some other Orthodox Churches, since the Patriarchate of Moscow opposes its recognition by all of them.[11] The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia isPetru Păduraru (born 24 October 1946 inŢiganca, elected as metropolitan in 1992), and it has about one third of the orthodox community in Moldova.[12]
The Metropolis of Bessarabia consists of foureparchies:
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) —"Stiri" (in Romanian). Archived fromthe original on 2008-02-26. Retrieved2008-04-21. —"Archived copy"(PDF) (in Russian). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 2008-02-27. Retrieved2008-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Autocephalous churches |
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