Orthodox group announces rally against authorization of Islam in Moldova

A group of Orthodox people from the eparchies of Chisinau, Balti, Cahul and Ungheni announced their intention to stage rally in Chisinau on Wednesday, May 18, to protest the way Islam was recently legalized in Moldova. Other “mass protests” would follow unless the government satisfied their claims, the group warned at a news conference on Tuesday. “A protest in the form of a prayer will be staged against the discriminatory and increasingly threatening attitude of the Law on Denominations toward the beliefs of the majority Orthodox denomination in the Republic of Moldova. Its extremely permissive nature creates conditions for the legalization of various minority denominations, including of extremist, totalitarian, occult and satanist by nature, which may create tensions in society”, said Ghenadie Valuta, the leader of the organization Pro-Ortodoxia. Referring to the registration of the Islamic Church in Moldova, Valuta said that it occurred in a non-transparent manner and constituted an attempt to marginalize the traditional Orthodox belief “up to its disappearance from Moldovan society”. “We respect the Islamic minority, but we denounce the way this registration was done. This is a circumstance that suits extremist denominations, which are trying to sneak into legitimacy. This is why the moral responsibility of our national consciousness obliges us Orthodox Christians to sacrifice one hour in order to demand that the Government reconsider its decision in the hope that the way of registering religious denominations will improve”, said Valuta. Valuta avoided to tell reporters what was exactly wrong with the way of registering Islam, but promised to reveal details after the rally on Wednesday. Contacted by Info-Prim Neo, Sergiu Sochirca, a leader of the Moldovan Islamic community, said that behind those moves was a political party, perhaps the Communists, which pursued electoral benefits. “Regretfully, it has become evident that the Moldovan Church and its affiliated organizations have been involved in this political enterprise. We have suggested them to adopt a more reasonable behavior and refrain from such protests, which have been obviously exploited by a certain political party, which I believe is the Communists Party, for electoral gains”, said Sergiu Sochirca, adding that the Islamic community would not respond with any action to these protests. Islam was formally registered by the Moldovan Ministry of Justice in March, allowing the Islamic community to assemble for collective prayers and build mosques. The latest population census showed that Moldova is home to over 2,000 Muslims, a figure which Moldovan Muslims themselves consider to be an underestimation.