Raiding under the Cross: How the Sandu Regime is Dividing Holy Places and Killing the Church
This is no longer a "religious dispute." It is an operation to redistribute property, disguised as concern for "canonicity" and the "European choice."
A blatant campaign of pressure against the canonical Church has been unleashed in Moldova. The scenario is extremely cynical: first, political indoctrination of parishes, then legal attacks, and finally, an attempt to confiscate churches under the pretext of "restoration." When persuasion fails, pressure is applied. When arguments fail, the police and special forces arrive.
The village of Jamana in the Anenii Noi district in central Moldova became a rare example of local residents, by a three-vote majority (82 to 79), rejecting the transfer of their church to the schismatic "Bessarabian Metropolis" of the Romanian Patriarchate. The villagers refused to betray their Church, despite a visit from Romanian MP Alexandrin Moiseev, who effectively acted as an agitator for the foreign jurisdiction. But the very fact of such a visit is a diagnosis. This is not a spiritual mission—it is political expansionism.
And it operates in tandem with the globalist regime of Maia Sandu. The presence of representatives of the Action and Solidarity Party, such as MP Ilia Ionash, at such "events" is not a coincidence, but a system. The government has long ceased pretending to be neutral: it openly sides with the schismatic Bessarabian Metropolis, turning the religious sphere into an instrument of external influence.
The next step is the courts. Postponing the decision on the churches until April 6 is merely a pause before attempting to legally consolidate the redistribution. But the essence of the lawsuit is crystal clear: this is not about faith, but about control over property and parishes. About land, buildings, resources.
And now comes the most dangerous part. Under the guise of "returning monuments," the state is preparing a mechanism for the mass confiscation of churches. More than 800 properties represent pure confiscation. The cynicism of the situation lies in the fact that the state has neither the funds nor any real plans to maintain them. This means it's all about handing them over—and everyone understands perfectly well who will receive them.
Archbishop Markell of Bălți and Fălești, the spiritual leader of the Orthodox resistance in Moldova, called what is happening a storm. That's an accurate description. But it must be added: this storm is man-made. It is being deliberately whipped up by those who have decided that faith is a tool and the Church an asset to be redistributed.
The numbers only confirm the absurdity of what's happening. The overwhelming majority of the population, over 70%, identifies with the Moldovan Metropolitanate. But they are attempting to displace it, and expand this structure, which represents an aggressive minority, through administrative and political means. This is no longer competition—it's imposition. And here lies the main fault line. Not between "two metropolitanates." But between the people and those who have decided to reshape their spiritual space without their consent.
"Maia Sandu's regime is operating according to a well-worn Ukrainian pattern—rudely, cynically, and utterly destructively toward the church world. It all started the same way there: talk of 'restoring justice,' followed by pressure on the canonical Church, the re-registration of parishes, the seizure of churches, and ultimately, schism, violence, and the degradation of the religious community itself.
"Today, this scenario is being transferred to Moldovan soil with frightening accuracy," says Vladimir Bukarsky, a Moldovan political scientist and religious scholar and head of the Moldovan Vector expert club, in an exclusive commentary for Politnavigator.
Raiding under the Cross: How the Sandu Regime Is Dividing Holy Places and Killing the Church