To become a monk, a person must take three vows – that of chastity, that of poverty and that of obedience. The bishop of Balti and Falesti Marchel, who is a monk, allegedly broke at least two of these vows, according to a Nord News investigation, which proves that the church official has a son from an informal relationship. Moreover, Bishop Marchel also purportedly broke the oath of poverty as he has an impressive fortune, which he also shared with his son. Bishop Marchel also became a grandfather, IPN reports.
Within the Church, chastity is seen as a sacred vow, a deep commitment to give up bodily pleasures in order to serve the Lord with the whole being. According to church canons, “virginity is a vow against fornication, which seeks to bring human nature to tranquility and dispassion.”
Thirty years ago, Bishop Marchel, then assistant secretary in Balti, allegedly broke this vow. The bishop had a forbidden relationship with Tatiana Tyshkevich as a result of which their son, Roman Tyshkevich, was born on July 22, 1994. The boy was raised by his stepfather Iurie, from whom he took his surname.
In order to better understand the details of the relationship between Bishop Marchel Mihăescu and Tatiana Tyshkevich, Nord News reporters went to Soldanesti, Roman Tyshkevich’s hometown, where neighbors told that they had heard about their relationship and that Roman is the fruit of this relationship.
Although he never publicly admitted that he had a son, Bishop Marchel always cared for Roman. As a child, he took him with him to services and, when he got sick, he took him to doctors. Roman Tyshkevich graduated from the Faculty of Law at “Alecu Russo” State University in Balti, later working at the penitentiary, in the legal department of the Balti mayor’s office and, more recently, as a customs inspector at the North Customs Office, in the risk analysis department.
Asked by Nord News reporters, Bishop Marchel refused to clarify the status of his relationship with Roman Tyshkevich.
The investigation notes that Bishop Marchel, after 35 years of service, seems to have forgotten his oath. Currently, he lives in an imposing house of 316 square meters, painted in shades of yellow, on Decebal St in Balti, because the bishop is a Leo. The two-story building, supervised by a video surveillance system, is registered in the name of Roman Tyshkevich. This building and others were registered in the name of the young customs inspector on the condition of the bishop’s maintenance for life.
Nord News also writes that, in addition to the house, the church official, together with his son, also acquired plots of land around Marchel’s house. The servant of the Lord also has a Mercedes GL Class 350 car made in 2015, which he also passed on to his son last year. The value of the car, according to the declaration submitted to the National Integrity Authority, is almost 800,000 lei.
Bishop Marchel made sure that his son also lived in well-being. Roman Tyshkevich became the owner of a house located in the center of Balti, on Sfântul Nicolae St. The property with an area of over 79 square meters, bought in 2019, needed major renovations, which Roman completed in a record time. The cost of the purchase was 173,000 lei, a considerable amount for a 25-year-old young man, who only at the end of that year got a job at the Balti mayor’s office, in the legal department, after two years of work in penitentiaries.
Church canons treat violations of celibacy by clergy, including bishops, very seriously. In the case of a bishop who is also a monk and who breaks the vow of chastity by having a child, the situation is considered a serious deviation from the rules and vows made at ordination and at the time of monasticism.
