An initiative group of the Orthodox priests of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church, headed by the leader of “Pro Ortodoxia” Association Ghenadie Valuta, expressed their concern about the attacks on His Holiness Vladimir, the Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and All Moldova. In a press briefing on Thursday, Ghenadie Valuta said that after the Law on Guaranteeing of Equality was adopted, the Moldovan Metropolitan Church, especially the Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir, became the target for attacks and criticism over the insufficient involvement in sensitizing the government officials. According to Valuta, these attacks ended with affronts to the Moldovan Metropolitan Church and threats that Patriarch Kiril of Moscow and All Russia will be asked to replace His Holiness Vladimir. “The Moldovan Metropolitan Church, in the person of Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir, is practically the only stabilizing factor in society, especially at moral-spiritual level, because our society that experiences moral and material scarcities is now extremely seismic. Therefore, it is imperatively necessary to keep unity in the Church. Any attack on the Moldovan Metropolitan Church inevitably targets the unity of the Church,” said Ghenadie Valuta. He also said that His Holiness Vladimir supported the steps taken against the antidiscrimination law and this shows that he became involved. The priests of the Orthodox Church of Moldova will make effort to keep unity in the Church together with the Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir and will support him in all his good intentions, especially as regards the mobilization of the Church for combating immoral policies. The Orthodox Church was against the passing of the antidiscrimination law owing to the rights it guarantees to the sexual minorities. After a series of protests and public debates, the phrase ‘sexual orientation’ was kept in only one article about employment. The bill was named Law on Guaranteeing of Equality and was passed in Parliament in two readings on May 25. The adoption of this law is a condition imposed by the EU for liberalizing the visa regime with Moldova.