Adventists hold concert on Chisinau’s outskirts with Orthodox Christians protesting in downtown

As there was no time to postpone the planned event, the Seventh-Day Adventists gave the concert forming part of the program “Follow the Bible” at the Christian Adventist Center located on the outskirts of Chisinau. Simultaneously, Orthodox Christians were protesting against the concert in the same place where the event was to take place initially – in the Great National Assembly Square, Info-Prim Neo reports. According to the organizers, the concert was attended by several thousands of people from all the regions of the country, including Transnistria. It lasted for several hours and there were no incidents. Mihai Miron, the jurist of the Adventist Church in Moldova, stated for Info-prim Neo that, as the national courts didn’t do them justice, they are considering suing the Moldovan Metropolitan Church to the European Court of Human Rights for the erected obstacles. “We have to crowd here in this place while illegal protests are being held in the square. This is the first conflict case in the CIS states and in Asia. We will continue the program in the EU, where we are sure we will not face such problems,” Mihai Miron said. “We acted in accordance with the law and we obey the decisions of the authorities as this is how the Bible teaches us. But the rights of a very large group of people were violated,” said one of the organizers of program “Follow the Bible”, Andrei Caminschi. “We were told we are a religious minority and were not allowed to stage the event. We promote a symbol that is common for all the religions – the Bible. We are sorry that two Christian Churches are in litigation. If we want to become part of the EU, we must respect each other, regardless of race, culture and religion. That’s why we did not resort to confrontations and did not insist, but hope that the European courts will do justice to us,” said Alexandru Moldoveanu, priest of the Adventist Church in Sangerei. The Christians attending the concert had different opinions. “The event was to be held in the Great National Assembly Square, not here. We are peaceful people and have the same rights as anybody else,” said an Adventist from Edinet, Irina Nicula. On the other hand, Ion Negura from Calarasi said that this way both the Adventists and the Orthodox Christians avoided unnecessary disagreements. The interdenominational conflict between the Moldovan Metropolitan Church and the Seventh-Day Adventist Church arose a week ago, when the Adventists announced they will hold a concert that forms part of the international program “Follow the Bible”. The Moldovan Metropolitan Church and PRO Ortodoxia Association opposed it, demanding that the Chisinau City Hall annuls the authorization for holding the concert. The association said that such events are designed to divide the Moldovan society that is 93% formed of Orthodox Christians and their religious feelings would be harmed if the concert was given in front of the Assumption of the Virgin Cathedral in Chisinau. “Follow the Bible” is a religious program initiated and organized by the Adventist Church. It features a multi-language Bible traveling to about 200 countries and large international gatherings to recommit to a study of God s word. The Bible weighs about 9 kg, has approximately 1,500 pages and includes texts written in 67 languages, inclduing Romanian. The program was launched in Manila (Philippines) last autumn and will be completed in June 2010 in the U.S. Moldova is the 78th country where the Bible was brought.