MINELRES: Moldova starts to expel Bessarabian Metropolitanate priests

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Mon Jan 7 14:13:24 2008


Original sender: Ionas Rus <[email protected]>


http://www.ziua.ro/display.php?data=2008-01-04&id=231304


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Chishinau starts to expel priests

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Two Romanian priests were expelled by Chishinau authorities allegedly  
because of lacking employment documents. The measure was decided  
during checks concerning all the priests in Romanian parishes on  
Moldovan territory.Constantin Stoica, a spokesman of the Romanian  
Orthodox Church, argues: "The representatives of the Metropolitan  
Church of Basarabia have informed us that all the priests in this  
administrative structure were checked on by Moldovan authorities  
wishing to see if they had legal residence and employment documents.  
They decided that the employment documents of two Orthodox priests  
were not all right and the two should be expelled at once."The action,  
legal from Moldovan authorities' point of view, has emerged at times  
of dispute between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Russian  
Orthodox Church, caused by the reactivation of three Romanian parishes  
on Moldovan territory. Although Moldovan authorities admit the three  
religious structures are legal, the Russian Church thinks the  
reactivation is "an act of aggression", namely a break of the Russian  
canonic territory.Moldovan authorities opened campaign to denigrate  
the priests and officials of the Metropolitan Church of Basarabia,  
canonically subordinate to the Romanian Patriarchy. His Holiness  
Petru, the Bishop of Basarabia, was retained in December 26, 2007 in  
the customs point in Leuseni, when he was returning from Iasi.
(G.D.)

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