The
Moldovan Orthodox Church (canonical name:
Metropolis of Chişinău and all Moldova) is an autonomous church under the Church of Russia, whose canonic territory covers the Republic of Moldova.
Together with the
Metropolis of BessarabiaThe Metropolis of Bessarabia is one of the metropoles of the Romanian Orthodox Church, aside from the six metropoles inside Romania proper. The Metropolis of Bessarabia was created in 1923 and organized in 1925, when the Archbishopric of Chişinău was raised to the rank of metropolis...
(an autonomous church under the
Romanian Orthodox ChurchThe Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
), it is one of the two major churches of
MoldovaMoldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south....
. At the 2005 census, 3,158,015 people or 95.5% of those declaring a religion claimed to be Eastern Orthodox.
The
Moldovan Orthodox Church (canonical name:
Metropolis of Chişinău and all Moldova) is an autonomous church under the Church of Russia, whose canonic territory covers the Republic of Moldova.
Together with the
Metropolis of BessarabiaThe Metropolis of Bessarabia is one of the metropoles of the Romanian Orthodox Church, aside from the six metropoles inside Romania proper. The Metropolis of Bessarabia was created in 1923 and organized in 1925, when the Archbishopric of Chişinău was raised to the rank of metropolis...
(an autonomous church under the
Romanian Orthodox ChurchThe Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
), it is one of the two major churches of
MoldovaMoldova , officially the Republic of Moldova is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east and south....
. At the 2005 census, 3,158,015 people or 95.5% of those declaring a religion claimed to be Eastern Orthodox. The Moldovan Orthodox Church has also stained relations with
ROCORThe Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia , also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR) is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church....
, which only has a few followers in the country.
In October 1992 the Church of Russia granted autonomy to the Metropolitan Church of Chişinău and all Moldova. It currently holds the majority of the Eastern Orthodox population, parishes, monasteries, and churches in Moldova.
The church has four eparchies (bishoprics): Chişinău, Tiraspol and Dubăsari, Edineţ and Briceani, Cahul and Comrat. Church languages are Romanian and Slavonic. Church music is Byzantine and Russian. The Moldovan Orthodox Church has 1,080 parishes, 30 monasteries, 1 academy and 2 seminaries.
The head of the Moldovan Orthodox Church is Metropolitan Vladimir, who is a permanent member of the
Holy SynodIn several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod...
of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Relation with the Metropolis of Bessarabia
In the lead up to the independence of Moldova, the Romanian society and by the Romanian Orthodox Church encouraged reunification with
RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
rather than independence. The Romanian Orthodox Church revived the
Metropolis of BessarabiaThe Metropolis of Bessarabia is one of the metropoles of the Romanian Orthodox Church, aside from the six metropoles inside Romania proper. The Metropolis of Bessarabia was created in 1923 and organized in 1925, when the Archbishopric of Chişinău was raised to the rank of metropolis...
, granted it autonomous status and gave it authority over (part) of the Republic of Moldova and other areas. The movement was started in 1992 by the bishop of Bălţi, Petru (Paduraru). It was also supported by political parties supporting reunification of Moldova and Romania. It considers itself to be the heir of the Metropolis of Bessarabia which existed in 1918-1940 during the period of Greater Romania.
The Metropolis of Bessarabia had about 84 parishes in Moldova at the moment of its new recognition.
See also
- History of the Orthodox Church in Moldova
-Antiquity:In 325 Roman emperor Constantine the Great converted the Roman empire to Christianity, and most Roman citizens in time followed suit. Moldovans/Romanians, as direct descendants of the inhabitants of the Roman province of Dacia, trace their conversion to that date, being placed at that...
- Archbishop of Chişinău
The archbishop of Chişinău was the head of the Orthodox Church in Bessarabia after its annexation by the Russian Empire.* Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni * Dimitrie Sulima * Irinarkh Popov * Antonie Shokotov...