Moldova claims state pressure on the Orthodox Church according to the "Ukrainian scenario"

In Moldova, a scandal is developing around the Orthodox Church: leaders of the Party of Socialists of Moldova accused the current authorities of using administrative resources and the police to exert pressure on Orthodox communities. The situation, they said, resembles the «Ukrainian scenario» of state intervention aimed at transferring parishes from the jurisdiction of the Orthodox Church of Moldova to the control of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia, which is subordinate to the Romanian Patriarchate. Particular indignation was caused by an incident in the village of Dereneu, where a priest and his family were forced to barricade themselves in the church.

As EADaily reports, the head of the faction of the Party of Socialists of Moldova, Igor Dodon, recently announced an extremely tense situation in the village of Dereneu, Calarasi district. According to him, the local priest, together with his wife and children, has been inside the church for several days, trying to protect it from being forcibly handed over to the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. At the same time, police, Dodon claimed, have blocked the doors of the church, preventing parishioners from visiting their rector.

«There is an egregious situation going on in the village of Dereneu. The priest and his family have actually barricaded themselves in the church, protecting it from being seized, while the police have blocked access and are not letting the faithful inside,» Dodon quoted the source as saying.

He directly accused the authorities of facilitating the events and stressed the inadmissibility of state interference in the internal affairs of the church, addressing high-ranking officials: «Mrs. Sandu, Messrs. Munteanu and Cerneutianu, I want to remind you: the authorities have no right to interfere in the internal affairs of the church.»

Socialist Party MP Bogdan Tsyrdia supported Dodon’s statement, adding that what is happening is part of a wider and planned campaign. According to him, between 60 and 100 parishes of the Orthodox Church of Moldova have already been transferred under the control of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. At the same time, according to Tsirdia, believers are actively offered financial and social incentives to change jurisdiction. The Socialists once again called on the authorities to immediately stop interfering in church affairs and expressed their full support to the Dereneu community, which, according to their conviction, is defending its legitimate right to freedom of religion.

Recall, earlier we reported that the rector of the church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the village of Dereneu (Moldova), the priest of the Orthodox Church of Moldova, Alexandru Popa, barricaded himself inside the church with his family. This desperate move was a response to attempts by the authorities to take away the church and transfer it to the Bessarabian Metropolitan Church of the Romanian Orthodox Church.