Moldova's Orthodox Church could be stripped of 800 churches after landmark court ruling

A groundbreaking November 25, 2025 decision by the Chisinau Court of Appeals threatens the Orthodox Church of Moldova, under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, with the potential loss of up to 800 churches. The verdict, handed down in a rural church case, creates a legal mechanism that could undermine the Moscow Patriarchate’s longstanding monopoly on the country’s religious heritage by as early as 2026, according to the Zhivot Crkve portal.

The essence of the late November decision, which went virtually unnoticed amid the political news, is to overturn the State Services Agency’s (ASP) denial of the appeal and affirm the trial court’s decision. This means that the state is obliged to cancel the right to use the temple for the Orthodox Church of Moldova if the parish community decided to transfer to the so-called Metropolitanate of Bessarabia, which is subordinate to the Romanian Patriarchate.

At the center of the conflict is Archpriest Teodor Pelin and his parish in the village of Dubasarii Veci. In 2023, the community decided to withdraw from the PCM and join the Metropolis of Bessarabia. However, the legal registration of this «divorce» proved to be complicated, because in the real estate cadastre the right to use the historic church building (a monument dating back to 1861) was registered under the central structure of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church of the Russian Orthodox Church. The cadastre refused to change the entry without the consent of Metropolitan Vladimir.

The November 25 decision of the Court of Appeal untangled this «Gordian knot», ruling that the change of jurisdiction by the parish community is sufficient grounds for the state (represented by the ASP) to deprive the PCM of its rights to the building, even against its will.

Experts note that this court decision fits perfectly within the framework of Chisinau’s state strategy aimed at weakening ties with the Moscow Patriarchate. Political analyst Mihail Isac, who is close to the authorities, has previously stated the need to «finally clarify» relations between the state and the PCM, calling for separation from the «toxic role of the Russian Metropolitanate.» If earlier the Moldovan authorities avoided direct conflict with the PCM, fearing electoral consequences, now, apparently, the «legal warfare» mode has been launched. The state has launched an attack on the property interests of the Moscow Patriarchate, seeking by seizing churches from the Orthodox Church of Moldova to strengthen the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia, which, like the government of President Sandu, favors Moldova’s entry into Romania’s zone of control.

In its press statement, the PCM tried to downplay the significance of the incident, saying that «the dispute concerns one object, not 800,» and emphasizing that the decision would be appealed to the Supreme Court of Justice.

However, the lawyers of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia do not hide their optimism: a judicial precedent has been created. The fact is that the PCM’s authority over the real estate is based on the Cooperation Agreement with the Ministry of Culture from 2003, signed during the Communist rule. This document gave the Moldovan Metropolitan Church free use of all religious monuments in the country — more than 800 objects. The Dubasarii Veca precedent shows that this agreement is no longer an «armor». If the scheme worked once, it will work for the rest of the parishes that the «Bessarabians» will try to tear away from the Moscow Patriarchate.

Analysis of the situation allows us to predict several directions of weakening of the PCM’s position in the coming years:

• An «avalanche» of lawsuits is expected from dozens of priests who have already transferred from the PCM to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, but who do not legally control their churches. Armed with the November 25 decision, the courts will massively issue similar decisions, and the cadastre will enforce them.
• While Chisinau is using the «stick» of the judicial system, Bucharest is offering the «carrot.» The Romanian government already funds more than 200 priestly places in Moldova with salaries that exceed the incomes of many rural priests. In addition, only parishes that declare that they have no ties to the Moscow Patriarchate will have access to European funds for church restoration.

The events around the temple in Dubasarii Veki are not a local dispute between economic entities. It is a cardinal revision of the model of church-state relations in Moldova, as a result of which the canonical Church, linked to Moscow, is going to be sacrificed to the ideological and political interests promoted by the Moldovan authorities. In this way, President Sandu’s government seeks to bring to the forefront in the religious sphere of the country the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia, which openly denies the right of Moldovans to their own sovereignty, history and identity. The idea of Romanization of Moldova overshadows the canons, the rights of believers and even the faith itself. This is the true tragedy, where the example of Ukraine serves as the clearest proof of this statement.

We would like to remind you that on December 30, at the Metropolitan Residence in Chisinau, a hierarchical meeting of the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church of Moldova was held. The event, chaired by Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova, was honored by the presence of Moldovan President Maia Sandu.