The Metropolitan Church of Chisinau hasn’t received so far a response or a reaction from Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and all Russia to the letter sent by Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and All Moldova Vladimir in September. The information was confirmed for IPN by Vadim Cheibaș, secretary general of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova. The Metropolitan Bishop regrets the support offered by the Metropolitan Church of Moscow to the war started by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine, Russia’s “disrespectful” attitude to the Moldovans and the “abandonment” of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova by the Patriarchate of Russia.

The letter published on the portal deschide.md says that the more pressing circumstances push the Orthodox Church of Moldova with accelerated speed towards the periphery of Moldovan society. “This phenomenon is the direct consequence of our association as church body with the promotion of the pro-Russian interests in the Republic of Moldova, determined by the affiliation to the Patriarchate of Moscow which, for its part, in Moldovan society is perceived as an outpost of the Kremlin and a supporter of the Russian intervention in Ukraine”.

The letter notes that the Republic of Moldova’s fate has been already decided by the great powers – “during a relatively short period of time, it will inevitably unite with Romania and, surely, everything the Orthodox Church of Moldova supports will become part of the Romanian Orthodox Church”.

Another concern expressed by the people and the clerics, 80% of whom hold Romanian nationality, is the more persistent wish of the Patriarch of Moscow and all Russia to absorb the Metropolitan Church of Moldova into the so-called “Russian World” that is foreign to the Moldovan aspirations and values. “Regrettably, this tendency represents a continuation of the harsh denationalization policy pursued in the tsarist period, which the Russian Orthodox Church wants to complete. Regrettably, Moscow hasn’t yet realized that the people of Moldova have Latin roots and it is perfectly normal for them to aspire to come closer to and remain in this civilizational space, after centuries of artificial division, without betraying orthodoxy.”

Metropolitan Bishop Vladimir asks Patriarch Kirill how the abyss formed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the one hand, and the rise in the distrust of the clergy and the people in the Metropolitan Church’s position that is presumed to be directly tied to the Russian interests, on the other hand, can be avoided.