The Orthodox Church of Moldova, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church, has dismissed five parish priests who joined the Romanian Orthodox Church. This is reported on the website of the archdiocese.

The abbots of churches in the cities of Rezina and Strasheny, as well as in two villages in the Starshinsky and Yalovensky districts, were sanctioned. It is noted that the decision was made "in connection with the unauthorized and non-canonical withdrawal from the Chisinau diocese," the clergy "are dismissed from the post of parish priest and are deprived of the right to worship from November 14, 2023." It is specified that this issue will be further discussed at a meeting of the Holy Synod.

In September, the Bessarabian Metropolia of the Romanian Patriarchate, operating on the territory of Moldova, made an appeal to join the ranks of the Romanian Orthodox Church. In the same month, six clergymen joined the Romanian church, who were then deprived of church dignity by the Moldavian metropolis.

The Orthodox Church of Moldova was founded in 1813 and has more than 1.2 thousand parishes, it consists of six dioceses. In 1992, a representative office of the self-governing Romanian Orthodox Church appeared on the territory of Moldova, which the Moldovan metropolia and the government of the republic, who feared a church split, did not agree to register for a long time. However, in 2001, the European Court of Human Rights granted the claim of supporters of the Bessarabian Metropolis, the authorities were forced to register it. The conflict between the two metropolitans has recently escalated due to the events in Ukraine.
Photo - © Sergey Starush / Photo Bank Lori
According to the materials of TASS