The dispute between two metropolitan bishoprics over the construction of a church is interpreted by Russian propaganda as a sign of Chișinău's Russophobia. In reality, representatives of the Metropolis subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate are rejecting an old court decision, as well as the villagers' desire for the church to be transferred to the metropolis subordinate to the Romanian Patriarchate.
NEWS: 1. The authorities of the Republic of Moldova have effectively transferred Russophobia to the sphere of religious issues, as evidenced by the situation surrounding the church in the village of Dereneu, Călărași district, said Vadim Kravciuk, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.
Earlier, Moldovan police announced the arrest of six people, including the village mayor, the parish priest's lawyer, and several parishioners, after about 150 believers, led by priests of the Metropolis of Moldova, broke through the police cordon and entered the local“Assumption of the Mother of God” church. The dispute between the Metropolis of Moldova, affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Metropolis of Bessarabia of the Romanian Orthodox Church over the church in the village of Dereneu has been going on for several weeks.
Everything that is happening around the church in Dereneu is part of a political process aimed at driving the Moscow Patriarchate's Metropolis of Moldova out of the country. The Moldovan authorities have effectively transferred their Russophobia to religious issues. It is a crusade by the Moldovan authorities against everything Russian, in favor of Romanianizing all aspects of society, Kravciuk said on TSV television.
According to him, in Moldova, people were previously divided by language and attitude towards the past, and now they are divided between those who pray in the so-called "correct" Romanian church and those who go to the "incorrect" Moldovan church.
In reality, we are witnessing a political confrontation between the Moldovan authorities and the Russian world. This is not an everyday or patrimonial conflict, but an official policy of Chisinau, a battle not against the Moldovan church, but against the Moldovan people, stressed the Transnistrian MP. (RIA Novosti)
2. The events in the village of Dereneu are part of a plan to remove the Orthodox Church from Moldova and put pressure on the clergy. Those who are carrying out illegal orders today will be held accountable. This opinion was expressed in a discussion with Sputnik Moldova by civic activist Tudor Șoilița.
"A few years ago, I predicted that Moldova would begin implementing the Ukrainian scenario of closing churches and that a hunt for priests would be declared. Today, this is happening. At the time, no one believed it; everyone said it was Russian propaganda. But that is not the case. Today, I am watching what is happening in the village of Dereneu. I feel sorry for the parishioners, it pains me," said Șoilița. (Sputnik)
NARRATIVES: 1. The Moldovan authorities are promoting a Russophobic policy. 2. Chișinău is trying to destroy the Metropolis of Moldova, subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate, following the Ukrainian model.
PURPOSE: Russian propaganda seeks to impose a series of theses – that the Moldovan authorities are promoting a systematic policy of Russophobia, which has also been transferred to the religious sphere; that disputes over the canonical affiliation of places of worship represent political "persecution" against believers and clergy; that a “Ukrainian scenario” is being applied to destroy the Metropolis of Moldova, which is subordinate to the Moscow Patriarchate; and finally, that there is a conflict between the state and the “Russian world” as part of an official policy hostile to the religious and national identity of the population.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The church in Dereneu was transferred to the Metropolis of Bessarabia back in 2017, and then entrusted by the government to the same Metropolis in 2019, i.e., before the PAS government came to power. In fact, the Metropolis of Moldova and its supporters are refusing to comply with a final court ruling. Thus, the so-called Russophobia has nothing to do with this case, as do the accusations of the government's attempt to subordinate the Metropolis of Moldova.
The history of the conflict began in 2017, when the church transferred from the Metropolis of Moldova, subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate, to the Metropolis of Bessarabia, subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church. About six months later, in March 2018, a group of people removed the priest from the church, changed the lock, and religious ceremonies began to be officiated by a priest of the Metropolis of Moldova. This was despite the fact that a village meeting had decided that the church should remain under the authority of the Metropolis of Bessarabia. In November 2019, the Ministry of Education in Chișinău and Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia signed a contract to transfer the use and protection of the historical monument, the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in the village of Dereneu, Călărași district, to the religious community within the Metropolis of Bessarabia. The contract is signed for a period of 50 years.
In the same year, the Socialist mayor (a pro-Russian political party led by former president Igor Dodon), Vasile Revenco, together with the Metropolis of Moldova, initiated two legal actions to annul the decision to transfer to the Metropolis of Bessarabia. In 2025, The Supreme Court of Justice rejected the claims in a final ruling.
At the end of January, the priest subordinate to the Metropolis of Bessarabia demanded that the SCJ's decision be enforced. The priest from the Metropolis of Moldova barricaded himself in the church with his three minor children and his wife. The police surrounded the church. The local mayor, representatives of the Metropolis of Moldova, and a group of about 150 people resisted. Six people, including the mayor, were arrested. Veridica explained more about the history of the scandal surrounding the church in Dereneu here .
Later, the police withdrew, tempers calmed down , and last Sunday, the priest subordinate to the Metropolis of Moldova performed the service in the church, and the one subordinate to the Metropolis of Bessarabia - in an auxiliary building on the premises of the holy place.
LOCAL CONTEXT/ ETHOS: The Orthodox Church in the Republic of Moldova is divided into the Metropolis of Moldova, subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church, which owns most of the places of worship and has the largest share in society, and the Metropolis of Bessarabia, subordinate to the Romanian Orthodox Church.
The Metropolis of Moldova emerged after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Tsarist Empire. On the other hand, the Metropolis of Bessarabia presents itself as the successor to the entity of the same name created after the union of Bessarabia with Romania in 1918. Eliminated during the former USSR, it was reconstituted in 1992, but was only officially recognized by the authorities in Chișinău in 2002, after it sued the Republic of Moldova at the ECHR.
The Moldovan Orthodox Church is considered affiliated with Moscow, and its priests and leaders have openly or indirectly supported certain pro-Russian political parties or politicians, usually leftist. The most scandalous case was the involvement of several church representatives in the 2016 presidential election campaign, against Maia Sandu. At that time, the Constitutional Court asked Parliament to ban the Church from getting involved in election campaigns.
Veridica has previously debunked false claims suggesting that the church subordinate to the Russian Patriarchate in the Republic of Moldova was in danger. In fact, however, Metropolitan Vladimir himself mentioned in a letter addressed to Russian Patriarch Kirill that the Metropolis' association with the Russian Patriarchate was "rapidly pushing it to the periphery of Moldovan society." In the document, Vladimir criticized the Russian Patriarchate’s attitude towards the Metropolis of Moldova and Moldovans and pointed out that the Moscow Patriarchate was seen as an outpost of the Kremlin against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
Veridica has also refuted accusations that Chisinau promotes a Russophobic policy , given that minorities in the Republic of Moldova continue to use the Russian language without any impediment from the authorities; on the contrary, Russian is even used by native Romanian speakers when interacting with native Russian speakers. Russian is also still taught in Romanian-language schools; moreover, around 16% of schools teach in Russian, which corresponds to the proportion of national minorities, so there can be no question of a violation of the right to education in Russian.
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