TheCatholic Church in Moldova is part of the worldwideCatholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of thePope inRome.
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In 1227 the current territory of Moldova joined the Diocese of Milkova, formed byPope Gregory IX. After the Mongol invasion, the Diocese of Milkova ceased to exist. In 1370,Pope Urban V formed theDiocese of Siret, which also included Moldavia. In 1413, theDiocese of Baia Mare was founded, which lasted until the beginning of the 16th century. At the beginning of the 19th century, Moldova was part of the Apostolic Vicariate of Moravia. On 27 April 1883Pope Leo XIII established theDiocese of Iași in Romania, which included most of the current territory of Moldova. In the diocese were activeJesuits who established numerous religious, educational and charitable institutions. North Moldavia was in theDiocese of Kamenetz-Podolsk. On 3 July 1848, after the concordat between theVatican and theRussian Empire, theDiocese of Tiraspol was formed, whosecathedra at first was inKherson, then was moved toTiraspol. Because of theCrimean War (1853-1856), itscathedra was transferred toSaratov, which was formed from the Tiraspol deanery, which included all of today's Moldova.[1]
After 1917, theDiocese of Iași had jurisdiction in Moldova. DuringWorld War II, Moldova was part of the Transnistria diocese. During theSoviet Union era, the Catholic Church in Moldavia was limited. Catholic parishes in Moldova since 1945 belonged to theArchdiocese of Riga. Before 1970, the territory of Moldova had only one Catholic church inChișinău, which was at the local cemetery. In 1979, Soviet authorities had banned the only Catholic priest in Moldova. After the formation of an independent Moldova, on 28 October 1993, the Apostolic Administration of Moldova was established and on 27 October 2001 it was converted into theDiocese of Chişinău with direct submission to theHoly See. The first bishop of the diocese isAnton Coșa.[citation needed]
In 2020, around 20,000 (0.56% of the total population) was Catholic.[2]
The country forms a single diocese, the Diocese of Chişinău.[3] In 2020 Moldova had 27 priests and 24 nuns serving across 20 parishes.[2]
The cathedral of the diocese is theCathedral of Divine Providence and the diocese publishes the religious periodicalGood Advice. The bishop in Moldova isAnton Coșa, a Romanian-born Catholic.[4] Besides the Latin rite faithful it serves the Greek Catholics as well.[5]
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