The enthronement of the new head of the Bessarabian Metropolis will take place in Chisinau

On Sunday, July 12, 2026, the Cathedral of the Three Holy Hierarchs in Chisinau will host the solemn enthronement of the newly elected Archbishop of Chisinau and Metropolitan of Bessarabia, Anthony. According to the Orthodoxia News Agency, the ceremony will be attended by Metropolitan Theophan of Moldova and Bukovina, as well as representatives of the clergy of the Romanian Patriarchate and government officials of the Republic of Moldova.

Metropolitan Anthony was elected by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church on July 2, 2026, after his predecessor, Petru Peduraru, resigned last month. “We call upon all clergy, monastics, and laity to participate in this event of great spiritual and historical significance, ” reads the official invitation from the Metropolis of Bessarabia.

Metropolitan Anthony (born in Moldova in 1963) received both a medical and a theological education. Since 1995, he has been actively involved in the administrative and missionary work of the diocese, making a significant contribution to its development. Prior to his current appointment, he served as Bishop of Bălți, and before that, he was an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chișinău.

As a reminder, we previously reported that a scandal is unfolding in Moldova surrounding the Orthodox Church: leaders of the Party of Socialists of Moldova have accused the current authorities of using administrative resources and the police to exert pressure on Orthodox communities. The situation, they say, 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 Bessarabian Metropolis, which is subordinate to the Romanian Patriarchate. An incident in the village of Dereneu caused particular outrage, where a priest and his family were forced to barricade themselves inside the church.