Post by diurpaneus on Jan 13, 2008 6:17:55 GMT -5
CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) - The head of one of the Moldovan Orthodox Churches accused authorities Friday of harassing priests and believers, after four priests and a nun were expelled from Moldova and banned from returning.
Bishop Petru Paduraru, who heads the Autonomous Bessarabian Metropolitan, an Orthodox Church, sent a letter to the Council of Europe
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In it, he detailed what he said were abuses committed by authorities in an effort to make priests leave the church, to which 20 percent of Moldova's Orthodox believers belong.
«Starting in December, most of the priests were visited at home or in their churches by police and secret police,» Paduraru wrote. «They were interrogated about why they would not pledge allegiance to the Russian Orthodox Church and prefer to stay in the Bessarabian Orthodox Church,» which they said was «an illegal schism.
«In some cases authorities have told priests that if they leave the church they will have real (material) benefits,» Paduraru said in his letter.
Believers have also been questioned by police on streets and in town halls about why they belong to the church, priests said.
The Bessarabian church is subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church, while the main Moldovan Orthodox Church _ to which 80 percent of Moldovan Orthodox believers belong _ is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Bessarabian church was disbanded a few years after Moldova joined the Soviet Union in 1940 and was organized again in 1992, a year after Moldova declared independence.
From Dec. 25 through Jan, 7, four priests and a nun, all Romanian citizens, were expelled from Moldova on the grounds their residency papers were not in order. All were banned from returning.
Authorities in Chisinau have declined to comment on the allegations.
Relations between Moldova and Romania in recent months.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has moved closer to Russia, while Romanian President Traian Basescu has offered Romanian citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Romanians. Romania joined the European Union in 2007.
About 88 percent of Moldova's 4.2 million citizens are Orthodox. The country was part of Romania until 1940.
Source
Bishop Petru Paduraru, who heads the Autonomous Bessarabian Metropolitan, an Orthodox Church, sent a letter to the Council of Europe
and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In it, he detailed what he said were abuses committed by authorities in an effort to make priests leave the church, to which 20 percent of Moldova's Orthodox believers belong.
«Starting in December, most of the priests were visited at home or in their churches by police and secret police,» Paduraru wrote. «They were interrogated about why they would not pledge allegiance to the Russian Orthodox Church and prefer to stay in the Bessarabian Orthodox Church,» which they said was «an illegal schism.
«In some cases authorities have told priests that if they leave the church they will have real (material) benefits,» Paduraru said in his letter.
Believers have also been questioned by police on streets and in town halls about why they belong to the church, priests said.
The Bessarabian church is subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church, while the main Moldovan Orthodox Church _ to which 80 percent of Moldovan Orthodox believers belong _ is subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Bessarabian church was disbanded a few years after Moldova joined the Soviet Union in 1940 and was organized again in 1992, a year after Moldova declared independence.
From Dec. 25 through Jan, 7, four priests and a nun, all Romanian citizens, were expelled from Moldova on the grounds their residency papers were not in order. All were banned from returning.
Authorities in Chisinau have declined to comment on the allegations.
Relations between Moldova and Romania in recent months.
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has moved closer to Russia, while Romanian President Traian Basescu has offered Romanian citizenship to hundreds of thousands of Romanians. Romania joined the European Union in 2007.
About 88 percent of Moldova's 4.2 million citizens are Orthodox. The country was part of Romania until 1940.
Source