MINELRES: Moldova Government Pressures Ukrainian Orthodox (UOC-KP), Says Bishop

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Original sender: Ionas Aurelian Rus <rus@polisci.rutgers.edu>


Moldova Government Pressures Ukrainian Orthodox (UOC-KP), Says Bishop

(RISU.org.ua) Chisinau v According to Bishop Filaret of Falesti and
eastern Moldova, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Kyivan Patriarchate
(UOC-KP) has been trying to register for the right to conduct its
activities in the
country of Moldova for a year and a half, but the authorities are
putting all possible obstacles in the way. According to the hierarch, by
doing so the government is trying to preserve the monopoly of the
Chisinau Metropolitanate of the Moscow Patriarchate (CMMP).
portal-credo.ru posted the bishop's statement on 24 January 2007.

"The review of our claim for registration has been delayed by all
possible methods," said Bishop Filaret. "Our church has clearly
fulfilled the law about the division of church from state; we do not
request anything from the state, apart from our legal right for
registration. Our church went to court because of the unsubstantiated
refusal of our registration, and the court recognized our right to
registration. But we were refused again. We won the case in the Appeals
Court; however, the state, in the person of the Department on Religious
Matters, launched an appeal to the Higher Court. I hope this high
authority will make a just decision, otherwise we will appeal to the
European Court of Human Rights."

According to Bishop Filaret, the residents of one village in the Falesti
District had collected 400 signatures requesting to go under the
jurisdiction of the UOC-KP. But the head of the district administration
called a great number of police and priests of the CMMP, headed by
Archpriest Ioann (Hara-Falesht) and Archimandrite Markel (Beltsy), in
order to enter the private building, which Archimandrite Aviv of the
UOC-KP bought to register the UOC-KP there in order to bless the
building and receive parishioners in it.

Bishop Filaret claims that the priests of the CMMP spread false
information about the UOC-KP, calling it "the Jehovah sect."

"This is not true, as our church is Orthodox. Our parishioners warned us
about the action in advance. The priests that prepared this against our
church are very aggressive and they discriminate against our faith, not
only with their words but also actions. They do not even resemble
priests, as their words do not have humility and it is not the divine
fire that speaks in their souls. Yesterday I, personally, addressed the
police with the request to prevent the illegal actions against our
private property," said Bishop Filaret.

Source: http://portal-credo.ru/site/?act=news&id=51357


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