The Church must counsel the faithful, not oblige them to vote for a party or another, considers MP Valeriu Ghiletski, who is the bishop of the Union of Christian Evangelic Baptist Churches of Moldova. In the program “Pahomi” on Realitatea TV channel, the lawmaker said there is nothing wrong in the fact that the Church guides the faithful so that they differentiate between the good and the bad, but it must allow them to make a choice themselves.
“It is about the integrity of priests or pastors. It’s inadmissible for them to influence the faithful to vote for a particular party,” stated Valeriu Ghiletski, specifying that this applies to the servants of all the religions existing in Moldova.
The MP pleaded for the non-involvement of the Church in the affairs of the state and vice versa, saying yet that the interests of the state and the Church intersect each other and this fact should not be neglected. “The Church is a congregation of faithful people who are citizens of this state. Thus, the Church cannot fully separate itself from the state as every citizen has rights and obligations as well. Not all the laws of the state are in agreement with the Scripture and a compromise should be identified here,” he said.
Valeriu Ghiletski is also for equality and respect for all the religions. “The Orthodox Christian Church represents a majority and thus those who are in the majority feel themselves superior. “However, a dialogue is attempted and we even had common activities such as the involvement in a project to combat trafficking in human beings. Tolerance and indulgence between churches are yet being established,” he stated.
