Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia sent a letter of protest to Council of Europe

Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia sent a letter of protest to the Secretariat of the Council of Europe and the Committee of Ministers of the European Commission, reporting about the acts of intimidation by Moldovan authorities against the priests, BBC reports, quoted by Info-Prim Neo. Bishop Petru Paduraru stated that the president of the country is interfering with the church affairs, persecutes the Metropolitan Church and its priests. Given the situation, the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia solicits protection. “A president should not interfere with church issues regardless of the quarrel between the churches. The head of state should try to settle the dispute and abstain from intervening for defending the rights of the Russian Church present in our country and violate the right to existence of our church”, the letter says. Recently, the press in Chisinau reported that several priests, who had participated on January 8 in a “Cross Road” march, were opened administrative proceedings against, for the reason that they weren’t issued an authorisation by the local public administration. About 400 parishioners organised a Cross Road from Giurgiulesti to Rosu village in Cahul district, walking over 40 kilometers in protest against the expulsion of two Romanian priests from Moldova. The two priests were accused of violating the regime of staying in Moldova. They were told that they didn’t have work permits from the central authorities and authorisations from the local authorities allowing them to work in parishes.