President Igor Dodon is for now the only politician who fully makes use of the messages about the role of the traditional family and the so-called “danger” of homosexuality that are disseminated by the Church, political pundit Denis Cenusa says in an analysis article for IPN Agency.
By taking part in the pro-family religious march of May 12, together with his family, President Dodon clearly showed that he wants to monopolize the general affiliation with the Church, specifically with the Moldovan Metropolitan Church that is subordinated to Moscow, which constantly enjoys the highest level of public confidence.
Denis Cenusa notes that despite the Constitutional Court’s request of 2016 to limit the involvement of the Church in the electoral process and to ensure religious neutrality, Igor Dodon deliberately uses the rapprochement with the Church to gain political popularity in an electoral year.
On the other hand, the Moldovan Metropolitan Church acts against the constitutional provisions saying that the state is lay and exerts pressure on the public authorities by urging them to thwart the “solidarity march”.
The Metropolitan Church’s approach with which President Dodon accepts to associate himself shows an attempt to radicalize the Church.
Initially, the Church requests the municipal authorities “to prevent nontraditional behaviors by any means”.
The message of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church could be interpreted as instigation of “abuses against the participants in the “solidarity march” by violating the current legislation and the constitutional provisions.
Also, the Church incites hatred against sexual minorities, comparing the public manifestation of the right to non-discrimination with the “ignoring of the moral feelings of the vast majority of our Orthodox citizens”.
In the course of 2018, the pro-Russian Moldovan politicians in particular will make use of the traditional values in an attempt to mobilize the voters against the “internal enemies” represented by the sexual minorities. The World Congress of Families, which President Dodon intends to stage this autumn, will be the culminant point of these actions, concluded the expert.
