The Church has played a major role in the movement for national liberation and renaissance, and in the organization of the three people's assemblies between 1989 and 1991. The statement was made by bishop Petru Buburuz at a talk-show on Radio Moldova, IPN reports.
According to Petru Buburuz, who was a member of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR back then, the fight for the Christian Orthodox faith was an element of the movement for national liberation and renaissance. “After years of persecution, they allowed the reopening of churches. People in each village wanted to have a church in their community. Even kolkhoz heads and party secretaries donated for the repair or construction of churches”, Buburuz recalls.
He pointed out to the priests' role in organizing the great national assemblies, when they encouraged believers to come to Chisinau and arranged for their transportation. “Priests couldn't remain indifferent, because the fight wasn't only for the language and the alphabet, but for our ancestral faith as well. People fought for spiritual values. Besides freedom, they also needed spirituality”, says the former Soviet MP.
According to the bishop, freedom of faith was one of the victories of the three national assemblies. “While in the past a priest could be prosecuted for giving candies to children, after the assemblies priests started blessing schools, kindergartens, and people weren't persecuted for going to church”, said Buburuz.
Petru Buburuz participated in the movement for national liberation and renaissance in the '90s. He blessed all three national assemblies and the so-called “bridges of flowers” in Ungheni and Albita. He was elected member of USSR's Supreme Soviet in 1989. On 1 October 1991, he reopened the Theology Department at the State University of Moldova and headed it until November 1993, when it was disbanded by the government. Until 2008, he was an administrative counselor of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. Since 1992, he has been parson of the Saint Apostles Peter and Paul Church in Chisinau. He has received the Order of the Republic and many church distinctions.
