Metropolis of the Romanian Orthodox Church
The
Metropolis of Bessarabia
(
Romanian
:
Mitropolia Basarabiei
), also referred to as the
Bessarabian Orthodox Church
,
[1]
is an
autonomous
Eastern Orthodox
Metropolitan
bishopric
of the
Romanian Orthodox Church
, situated in Moldova. Its canonical jurisdiction is the territory of the Republic of
Moldova
, and over the
Moldovan
and
Romanian
Orthodox diaspora from the former USSR.
[2]
The Metropolis of
Bessarabia
was created in 1918, as the
Archbishopric
of
Chi?in?u
, and organized as a
Metropolis
, in 1927.
[3]
Inactive during the
Soviet occupation of Bessarabia
(1940?1941) and the
Soviet rule in Moldova
(1944?1991), the Metropolis of Bessarabia was re-activated on 14 September 1992, and raised to the rank of
exarchate
, in 1995. The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia is
Petru (P?duraru)
.
[4]
History
[
edit
]
In 1812, after the
annexation
of
Bessarabia
by the
Russian Empire
, the Orthodox churches were re-organized as the Eparchy of Chi?in?u and Hotin, from the churches and monasteries of the
Metropolis of Moldavia
on that territory that no longer belonged to the
Principality of Moldavia
, by
Gavril B?nulescu-Bodoni
, a popular promoter of Moldavian/Romanian language and culture, who also served as its first archbishop. After 1821, the Russian state and church started an extended policy of
Russification
.
[5]
In 1858, after southern Bessarabia was
returned
to Moldavia, which soon united with
Wallachia
to form
Romania
, the Orthodox churches in Cahul, Bolgrad, and Ismail re-entered under the Romanian Church jurisdiction of the
Metropolis of Moldavia
, which established the Diocese of the Lower Danube, in 1864.
[6]
In 1878, after Russia
re-annexed
southern Bessarabia, the Russian Church jurisdiction was reinstated.
In 1918, after the
Union of Bessarabia with Romania
, the archbishop
Anastasius Gribanovsky
of the Eparchy of Chi?in?u was ousted after he refused to accede to Romania's demand to secede from the Russian Orthodox Church and integrate the eparchy in the Romanian one. With the advent of
Greater Romania
in 1918, there were three church bodies: the autocephalous
Romanian Orthodox Church
(on the territory of
Smaller Romania
—prior to 1918—formed in 1872 from the union of the
Metropolis of Ungrovlahia
with Metropolis of Moldavia), and the non-autocephalous Metropolis of Bessarabia and
Metropolis of Transylvania
. Therefore, in 1925, the rank of the Romanian Orthodox Church was raised to that of a Patriarchate, with the Metropolis of Bessarabia as one of its five sees.
Gurie Grosu
was the first Metropolitan of Bessarabia, and
Efrem En?chescu
the second.
After the
Soviet occupation of Bessarabia
in 1940, the church, which then was a non-autonomous Metropolis, was banned, and its property has either changed uses, or was transferred to the
Russian Orthodox Church
, which established the
Bishopric in Chi?in?u and Moldova
. In 1980s, two more bishoprics were added, and the See raised to the status of the Archdiocese, in 1990, and as the
Metropolis of Chi?in?u and All Moldova
, in 1992.
After Moldova's independence in 1991, part of the clergy followed Petru P?duraru, the Bishop of
B?l?i
, and re-established the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The Romanian Orthodox Church considered that, during the time, the Russian Orthodox Church jurisdiction on the former territory of Bessarabia was an
unfair and abusive act in terms of historical reality and canon law
, and as long as it remains under the Russian Orthodox Church, the jurisdiction right of the Metropolis of Chi?in?u and All Moldova can be exercised only to the
Russian ethnics
of Moldova.
[7]
The Russian Orthodox Church also refused to recognize the authority of the Bessarabian church, and the two metropolia started an uneasy co-existence. During the 1990s, the one subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church gained the protection of the country's authorities and established itself as the official church, while the Orthodox Church of Bessarabia was refused registration according to the country's new law of religions. In 2004, after years of legal hurdles and a final decision by the
European Court of Human Rights
, the
Orthodox Church of Bessarabia
received official registration, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Moldova recognizing it as "the spiritual, canonical, historical successor of the Metropolitan See of Bessarabia which functioned till 1944, including".
[8]
About 20% of country's Orthodox churches were or changed to be under its jurisdictions; a strong desire to similar moves has been expressed in many other parishes.
[
citation needed
]
This decision continues to be a major area of tension with the Russian Orthodox Church. The position of the Romanian Orthodox Church in the dispute with the Russian Orthodox Church over the territorial jurisdiction is, according to a press release, that the two Metropolitan Sees should "peacefully co-exist and brotherly cooperate (…) harmonising, with wisdom and realism, the territorial principle with the ethnic principle, as agreed in the pastoral service of the Orthodox in Diaspora."
[8]
In June 2023, Romania's
Prime minister
Marcel Ciolacu
announced that Romania will fund the Metropolis of Bessarabia with 2 million euros per year.
[9]
[10]
Structure and organization
[
edit
]
The church is currently recognized only by some other Orthodox Churches, since the Patriarchate of Moscow opposes its recognition by all of them.
[11]
The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia is
Petru P?duraru
(born 24 October 1946 in
?iganca
, elected as metropolitan in 1992), and it has about one third of the orthodox community in Moldova.
[12]
The Metropolis of Bessarabia consists of four
eparchies
:
See also
[
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]
Gallery
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References
[
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External links
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Organization
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History
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Subdivisions
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Other
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Archdioceses in
bold
; metropolis seats marked *
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Sovereign states
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States with limited
recognition
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