Orthodox in Moldova defend parish in Dereneu village from seizure by schismatics

In Moldova, believers successfully defended a parish in the village of Dereneu from an attempted seizure by representatives of the so-called «Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia». The incident occurred on January 28, 2026, when the church in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary was under the threat of seizure.

According to Moldavskie Vedomosti, in 2018, the authorities authorized the construction of a refectory and a house for the priest on the parish’s territory. However, the priest subsequently went into schism, which caused discontent among the faithful. Local residents disagreed with the Romanian church jurisdiction and defended their church and re-elected the mayor. Despite this, the schismatic continued to gather his small flock, using the refectory on the parish grounds for meetings.

The schismatics periodically attempt to seize the church of the canonical Orthodox Church of Moldova and also commit thefts. A number of legal proceedings are underway, but there is no final court decision yet. The believers of the village are forced to stand up as a human shield in defense of their church, in order not to fall into the sin of schism, which, according to John Chrysostom, «is not washed away even by martyr’s blood».

We would like to remind you that earlier we reported that representatives of the churches — participants of the Christian Interfaith Consultative Committee (CICC), the largest inter-Christian association in the Eurasian space, expressed deep concern over the ongoing harassment and violations of Christian rights in a number of countries. The statement published on the KMCC website focuses on the situations in Ukraine, Moldova, Estonia and Armenia.