The Moldovan metropolis accused the authorities of the republic of pressure and moral torture, urging them to avoid incitement to hatred, Metropolitan Vladimir said.
At the end of August, Vasily Shoimaru, a deputy of the ruling Action and Solidarity Party (PDS) in Moldova, said that the authorities intend to close the metropolis of the country, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church, by analogy with the actions of Ukraine. Later, the press service of the PDS party denied reports of plans to liquidate the Moldovan metropolis. Moldovan President Maia Sandu said on Friday that the authorities have no such intentions.
"We appeal to the state authorities to stop the moral torture of the Church. Otherwise, if these persecutions do not stop, we undertake to put you face to face with the righteous people of Moldova so that you can explain to them why you are attacking the Church of our people with such fury. We call for calm and discernment in approaching such sensitive topics and call on all those involved in public life to promote dialogue and mutual understanding, thereby avoiding any form of incitement to hatred or disagreement," Metropolitan Vladimir said in a statement posted on the metropolitan's website.
According to him, the deputy's words about a possible ban on the church contradict the laws of Moldova, according to which all citizens have the right to express their religious consciousness. Metropolitan Volodymyr noted that the repetition of the Ukrainian scenario is an act of religious intolerance manifested in public space.
"We are deeply outraged by the position of some government agencies engaged in intimidation of priests. Law enforcement officials come to the priests' houses and force them to sign various incomprehensible statements. Some hierarchs and ministers were detained at border crossings and subjected to a thorough search without any grounds. Today, the Church is under the same pressure as in the Soviet period. The church and its ministers are being threatened more and more," the metropolitan added.
The Orthodox Church of Moldova is a self-governing part of the Russian Orthodox Church. It unites 70% of the inhabitants of Moldova and Transnistria. The church is divided into six dioceses and has about 1.3 thousand parishes. Since 1992, the Bessarabian Metropolia of the Romanian Orthodox Church has been operating in the country. It unites 291 parishes and about 10-20% of Orthodox believers. Metropolitan Vladimir (Nikolai Kantaryan) of Chisinau and All Moldova has repeatedly expressed regret that the current authorities of the country avoid dialogue with the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
According to the materials of RIA Novosti