Bishop Marchel was prevented from leaving Moldova while making a new attempt to travel to Jerusalem for the Holy Fire ceremony.
The authorities in Moldova have launched a deliberate attack on the canonical Orthodox Church by barring a bishop from attending an Easter ceremony in Jerusalem, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.
Bishop Marchel of the Moldovan Orthodox Church was scheduled to fly to Israel on Thursday to attend the Holy Fire ritual on April 19 and bring back part of the flame believed to descend miraculously at the site of Christ's crucifixion. He told the media that border police at Chisinau airport searched him and returned his passport only after his plane had departed, despite finding nothing suspicious. His second attempt to board a flight was also "unjustifiably" blocked by Moldovan authorities.
Moscow views "this deliberate step... as another manifestation of the course taken by the Moldovan government against their people, their policy of double standards," Gennady Askaldovich, special representative of the Russian foreign minister for freedom of religion, told TASS on Saturday. "There is no doubt that this is a malicious attack against the canonical Orthodox Church of Moldova," he stressed.
The official called on international bodies to "take note of what happened and give a principled assessment of the outrageous actions of the Moldovan authorities."
In recent years, Moldova has faced religious tensions involving two major Orthodox factions: the Moldovan Orthodox Church - affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate - and the Metropolis of Bessarabia - under the Romanian Orthodox Church - which is being backed by the pro-EU government in Chisinau.
Askaldovich stressed that "a representative of the Metropolis of Bessarabia was the one, who eventually went to collect the Holy Fire," despite the fact that 70% of worshippers in the former Soviet republic belong to the Moldovan Orthodox Church.
The treatment of Bishop Marchel was "an attempt to destroy the unity of the Orthodox world on Moldovan soil," he said. "For the Moldovan people, their faith is the basis of their moral guidelines, traditional values and cultural code. It is regrettable that the government in Chisinau shows disrespect for its own citizens by irresponsibly manipulating such sensitive issues," the representative stressed.
Reader Comments
As a former part of the Soviet Union, there is q
As a former part of the Soviet Union, there is quite a bit of Soviet / Russian history and culture present. Even Russians, especially in the recalcitrant area called Transdniestria (including Russian military).
On the other hand, with a language almost identical to Romanian and a large cultural overlap, many Moldovans consider annexation to Romania as preferable option. And Romanians have subverted the political and media landscape fore years, preparing for the takeover.
And of course there is the Bruessels Moloch, who wants to swallow and dominate everything. And to score off the Russians bytaking over Transdniestria.
And last but not least, we talk about one of the poorest nations in Europe here.