IPN analysis: Under the law, Gagauzia is a political, economic and cultural autonomous unit of the Gagauz people. But a movement to recognize the ‘church autonomy’ has developed lately in this region.
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From discussions to the national idea

Exactly one year ago, Gagauzia started the preparations for holding a local referendum on the country’s external development course. Afterward, during 2014, the Moldovan-Gagauz relations were marked by the elucidation of the matter: can this specific region influence the foreign policy priorities of Moldova? The first days of the new year revealed a new problem in the relations with the central authorities, a religious one this time: does Gagauzia have the right to create its own Diocese within the Moldovan Metropolitan Church of the Russian Orthodox Church? In the immediate future, this theme can become one of the main tones of the international agenda.

The necessity of creating the Diocese of Gagauzia has been discussed in the Gagauz society for a long time. But it now became more pronounced. During the first days of the Christmas week, the Gagauz Cultural Society “Aidannâk” sent a letter to the Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir, asking him to support the initiative concerning the institution of a new diocese. A similar letter was edited by the Center “Pro Eurasia”, according to which the new diocese can culturally and spiritually support the development of Gagauzia.

Ultimately, this idea was supported by many natives of Gagauzia who settled in Turkey. They called on the region’s administration to make approaches to the church authorities of Moldova. This active campaign was accompanied by numerous articles in the Gagauz mass media, where the rationality of such a decision was explained. In other words, all these events transformed the idea of creating the Diocese of Gagauzia from an ordinary topic for discussion into a flag of the national movement and a national idea for the immediate future.

Foreigners among own folk

There are now about 30 Orthodox parishes in Gagauzia, which form part of the Diocese of Cahul-Comrat that is headed by Bishop Anatolie, who is an ardent opponent of the creation of the new district. He invokes mainly financial motives. He is convinced that it won’t be easy to find financial resources to pay the staff of the new diocese and it is unreliable to count on the support of the region’s authorities. Thus, the Bashkan (Governor) of the region, who is ready to allocate money for the purpose, can be replaced by another person who will consider that such costs are unnecessary. Besides, as Bishop Anatolie said, many priests from the autonomous region do not support this idea.

Actually, the priests of Gagauzia include indeed opponents of the creation of the Diocese of Gagauzia. Their voice was heard on January 5, in a meeting of the local priests that was held in Congaz village. At the end of the meeting, several priests signed a statement, declaring that they do not support the idea of creating a new diocese. Among these were representatives of the parishes of the largest two villages – Congaz and Copceac. However, as the local mass media reported, these priests are not of Gagauz nationality and do not enjoy the support of the parishioners from these settlements.

But there are also Gagauz priests who oppose such a step. One of them is archpriest Piotr Chelesh, who was named by Bishop Anatolie to coordinate the activity of churches on the territory of Gagauzia. In the church system, Chelesh occupies not the most comfortable position. His role is in a way similar to the role of the representative of the State Chancellery of Comrat, who has to represent the interests of the central Government, having thus the reputation of ‘foreigner among the own folk”.

The largest part of the clergy of Gagauzia are critical of the archpriest’s position. But there are also priests who support him, even if not so many.  

According to the statutes

The idea of creating the Diocese of Gagauzia is supported also by well-known representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church. Thus, protodeacon Andrei Kuraev expressed his support for such an idea several years ago. In an interview for a Gagauz publication, he said the level of religious awareness of the Gagauz people allows considering the creation of a separate diocese, but a consensus should be first reached within the Moldovan Church.

This opinion of the Russian priest is confirmed by the statutes of the Moldovan Church according to which a new diocese can be set up by the Synod of the Moldovan Orthodox Church. If the Synod considers such a step is necessary, a new diocese is created and a new bishop is elected by voting. Afterward, the decision of the Moldovan Church is to be confirmed by the incumbent Patriarch and by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Money and language

If leaving the technical aspect of the problem aside and analyzing the rationality of creating the Diocese of Gagauzia, from formal viewpoint the theme derives from two litigious points: financial and national–linguistic.

Everyone likes counting money and the representatives of the Church are not an exception, especially when the financial factor is related to the adoption of important administrative decisions. We already mentioned the position of the Bishop of Cahul and Comrat, who doubted the financial viability of the Diocese of Gagauzia. Indeed, it is hard to refute the argument that the new district would be too costly. Such a religious institution is based on a really bureaucratic apparatus – functionaries of the chancellor’s office, accountant, ancillary personnel, and units of transport. All these necessitate considerable financial resources.

The supporters of the creation of the Diocese of Gagauzia agree that their idea will cost too much, but insist on the self-sufficiency of the autonomous unit’s parishes. The ‘riches’ of the church depend greatly on the number of residents of the settlement where this church is located.  Thus, the parishes of Gagauzia, where many villages are similar to some of the Moldovan towns by the number of inhabitants, are among the most prosperous district parishes and they regularly transfer money to the Diocese of Cahul-Comrat.

The national-linguistic obstacle resides in the difficulty of using the Gagauz language during religious ceremonies. This problem appears primarily in the parishes headed by Moldovan priests named from outside, who do not known the language of the residents of the autonomous unit. Both of the sides treat this problem in a different way. The supporters of the creation of the Diocese of Gagauzia consider this is a violation of the Gagauz people’s right to attend services in the mother tongue. Their opponents invoke the violation of the Statutes of the Moldovan Orthodox Church according to which Romanian is the language in which the services are held.

Eventually, both of the disputes can be resolved by finding a political solution. Even if the arguments of the Gagauz side may seem convincing, the administration of the Moldovan Church also has a justified position. The Moldovan Orthodox Church was in a similar situation 25 years ago, when the Russian Orthodox Church recognized its right to self-management. The difference resides in the fact that the church decentralization process then took place after the dismemberment of the USSR. That’s why today, any discussion on the division of the Moldovan Church will be accompanied by a danger to Moldova’s territorial integrity. Whether these fears of the senior officials of the Moldovan Orthodox Church are justified or they are used as a pretext for other reasons is another question. For now we will be waiting for the official answer of the Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir.

Veaceslav Craciun. IPN