METROPOLITAN CHURCH OF BESSARABIA
9
AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT
group’s bank accounts and strict supervision of its priests during their numerous
crossings of the border.
The activity of the so-called Church is not limited to attracting new adherents and
propagating the ideas of the Romanian Church. It also has all the means necessary for
the work of a Church, it appoints priests, including nationals of other States ..., trains
clergy, builds churches and many, many other things.
It should also be mentioned that the group’s activity (more political than religious)
is sustained by forces both from within the country (by certain mayors and their
villages, by opposition representatives, and even by some MPs) and from outside (by
decision no. 612 of 12 November 1993 the Romanian government granted it
399,400,000 lei to finance its activity ...
The activity of this group is causing religious and socio-political tension in Moldova
and will have unforeseeable repercussions ...
The Religious Affairs Department notes:
(a) Within Moldovan territory there is no territorial administrative unit with the
name of Bessarabia which might justify setting up a religious group named
‘Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia’. The creation of such a group and recognition of
its articles of association would constitute a wrongful anti-State act – a negation of the
sovereign and independent State which the Republic of Moldova constitutes.
(b) The Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia was set up to take the place of the
former Eparchy of Bessarabia, founded in 1925 and recognised by Decree no. 1942
promulgated on 4 May 1925 by the King of Romania. Legal recognition of the validity
of those acts would imply recognition of their present-day effects within Moldovan
territory.
(c) All Orthodox parishes in Moldovan territory have been registered as constituent
parts of the of the Orthodox Church of Moldova (the Metropolitan Church of
Moldova), whose articles of association were ratified by the government in its
decision no. 719 of 17 November 1993.
In conclusion:
1. If nothing is done to put a stop to the activity of the so-called Metropolitan
Church of Bessarabia, the result will be destabilisation not just of the Orthodox
Church but of the whole of Moldovan society.
2. Recognition of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia (Old Style) and
ratification of its articles of association by the government would automatically entail
the disappearance of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova.”
35. On 20 February 1996, following a question in Parliament asked by
the applicant Vlad Cubreacov, a Moldovan MP, the Deputy Prime Minister
wrote a letter to the Speaker explaining the reasons for the government’s
10
METROPOLITAN CHURCH OF BESSARABIA
AND OTHERS v. MOLDOVA JUDGMENT
refusal to recognise the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia. He said that the
applicant Church was not a denomination distinct from the Orthodox
Church but a schismatic group within the Metropolitan Church of Moldova
and that any interference by the State to resolve the conflict would be
contrary to the Moldovan Constitution. He pointed out that the political
party to which Mr Cubreacov belonged had publicly expressed disapproval
of the Supreme Court of Justice’s decision of 9 December 1997, that Mr
Cubreacov himself had criticised the government for their refusal to
recognise “this phantom metropolitan Church” and that he continued to
support it by exerting pressure in any way he could, through statements to
the media and approaches to the national authorities and international
organisations. The letter ended with the assertion that the “feverish debates”
about the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia were purely political.
36. On 29 June 1998 the Religious Affairs Department sent the Deputy
Prime Minister its opinion on the question of recognition of the
Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia.
It pointed out in particular that not since 1940 had there been an
administrative unit in Moldova with the name “Bessarabia” and that the
Orthodox Church had been recognised on 17 November 1993 under the
name of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, of which the Metropolitan
Church of Bessarabia was a “schismatic element”. It accordingly considered
that recognition of the applicant Church would represent interference by the
State in the affairs of the Metropolitan Church of Moldova, and that this
would aggravate the “unhealthy” situation in which the latter Church was
placed. It considered that the articles of association of the applicant Church
could not be ratified since they merely “reproduce[d] those of the Orthodox
Church of another country”.
37. On 22 June 1998 the Ministry of Justice informed the government
that it did not consider the articles of association of the Metropolitan Church
of Bessarabia to be contrary to Moldovan legislation.
38. By letters of 25 June and 6 July 1998 the Ministry of Labour and
Social Protection and the Ministry of Financial Affairs again informed the
government that they could see no objection to recognition of the
Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia.
39. On 7 July 1998 the Ministry of Education informed the government
that it supported recognition of the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia.
40. On 15 September 1998 the Cultural and Religious Affairs
Committee of the Moldovan parliament sent the government, for
information, a copy of a report by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian
Federation, which showed that on 1 January 1998 there were at least four
different Orthodox Churches in Russia, some of which had their head
offices abroad. The Committee expressed the hope that the above-
mentioned report would assist the government to resolve certain similar