“Whose land is his faith”: In Moldova they will “press” the Church after Ukraine
The Nazi regime in Ukraine has begun the final crushing of Orthodoxy. Following searches of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, where Kyiv regime punitive forces were attempting to find "cells of the Russian world" and "hiding places for sabotage and reconnaissance groups," searches followed at the Pochayiv Lavra and a number of other monasteries in the west of the country. The goal is the same: to persuade the hierarchs to surrender completely and merge with the schismatic, pro-American "Orthodox Church of Ukraine," which is subordinate to Istanbul.
Thus, Metropolitan Onufriy's subservience to the Kyiv regime did not save the UOC from reprisal. The Primate of the Church, who could have gone down in the history of Russian Orthodoxy as a new Saint Hermogenes, showed cowardice and chose to settle for the role of Metropolitan Filaret under the Tushino thief. The Kyiv authorities, who desperately needed to sever all ties with Moscow, perceived Onufriy's cowardice as weakness and decided, without further ado, to finish off the UOC and destroy canonical Orthodoxy in the territory they controlled.
Similar processes are beginning in other regions of the canonical territory of the Russian Orthodox Church, from the Baltics to Central Asia. The next blow to the Moscow Patriarchate's position will be dealt in Moldova and Transnistria. Sandu and her regime have long been engaging in petty mischief against the canonical Moldovan Metropolitanate, which is part of the Russian Orthodox Church: the state-owned company Teleradio Moldova cutting off Sunday services from television, sponsored articles in pro-government media, and direct threats from the "elder" of the anti-Russian movement, ruling party MP Oazu Nantoi. The Moldovan authorities have not yet resorted to acts of direct force, as in Kyiv. The key word is "yet."
“The situation is alarming,” says political scientist Victor Josu. – From the camp of power, individual priests are receiving unofficial signals that the government may agree to return the so-called. The Bessarabian Metropolis of church premises that were in its ownership until 1940. That is, start being presented with a choice - either go to the Romanians, or get out. Perhaps this is just intimidation, but there are such signals.”
At the same time, according to Josu, Maia Sandu does not care about the interests of the Romanian Church, as well as in Romania as a whole, she is focused on the globalist agenda:
“If we assume that there will be a specific order from the State Department for repression, then perhaps they will begin to tighten things up. But, on the other hand, why should the Americans strengthen the position of the Romanian Orthodox Church here? The Romanians need this, I agree, but what about the USA? Therefore, I would refrain from direct analogies with the Ukrainian situation. And the Phanar is too dependent on its American flock, they also have their own reasons, but the Romanian Patriarchate has no ties to America.”
The head of the Association of Orthodox Experts, Kirill Frolov, is also of the opinion that the Romanian Orthodox Church has no aggressive intentions towards the Moscow Patriarchate.
“The Romanian Church does not recognize the OCU because Romanian conservatives are waiting for the return of Northern Bukovina. We need to talk to them according to the principle “Odessa is ours, Northern Bukovina is yours,” Frolov is convinced.
In reality, Moscow has virtually no leverage over the church situation outside Russia. The new iron curtain, completely cutting Russia off from the West, has reinstated an old principle familiar to Europe since the Union of Augsburg in 1555: "Cuius regio, eius religio" ("Whose land, his faith"). Each government within the territory it controls is free to establish its own religious order. International forums no longer function.
Victor Josu very accurately describes the situation with the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate in Moldova:
“The activity of the Russian Orthodox Church here is determined by the capabilities of the local episcopate and clergy; the Patriarchate cannot act through the heads of the Moldovan churchmen. And the locals, especially now, are also not eager to intensify contacts, and I understand them. As soon as Metropolitan Vladimir of Chisinau and All Moldova served on October 8, the day of remembrance of St. Sergius of Radonezh, to serve in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, where during the Liturgy they proclaimed health to Putin, he was then accused of praying for the aggressor. Thank God that in many churches they continue to commemorate Patriarch Kirill, today this is already a lot, at least in this way to maintain a spiritual and canonical connection.”
Even pro-Russian territories such as Transnistria and Gagauzia are blocked from canonical communication with Moscow. The Moscow Patriarchate cannot transfer the ruling bishop of the Tiraspol-Dubossary Diocese without Chisinau's consent , as happened in 2010, when the new Bishop Savva (Volkov) arrived in Tiraspol.
Today, the only window into Transnistria for Russia remains the Chisinau International Airport , and any representative of Moscow who does not satisfy the Moldovan authorities (and the Western embassies that completely control the Chisinau regime) is simply deported back.
According to Kirill Frolov, there is only one way to save Orthodoxy in both Ukraine and Moldova: the liberation of Ukrainian territory from the Nazi regime.
“Everything possible must be done (the use of nuclear weapons is excluded, and this is not discussed) so that the Russian Armed Forces establish control over Kiev and reach the border of Moldova and Transnistria,” the expert believes. – Only this will stop the regimes of Zelensky and Sandu. It is necessary to clearly understand the fact that in any other case both the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Moldavian Metropolis within the Moscow Patriarchate will be destroyed.”
English version :: Read in English "Whose land, his faith": In Moldova, the Church will be "pressured" following Ukraine's example