The History of the Establishment of the Metropolis of Chișinău and Moldova (currently the Orthodox Church of the Republic of Moldova)
Following the signing of the Treaty of Bucharest in 1812, the Russians occupied half of Moldova, the territory between the Prut and Dniester rivers, later called Bessarabia. As a result of this annexation, the Orthodox Christians in this territory were left outside any territorial-administrative church organization. Therefore, Metropolitan Gavriil Bănulescu, settled in Bessarabia, began efforts to establish a new bishopric. In August, he sent a letter to the commander of the Russian armies, Admiral P.V. Chichagov, and in November, he submitted to the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church a project for the organization of the new eparchy.
On August 21, the project was approved by Tsar Alexander I. The imperial ukase stipulated that in the new eparchy, “local customs shall be observed, as the people of Bessarabia have been allowed to retain their old Moldovan rights.” In the Eparchy of Chișinău and Hotin, as the new territorial-administrative church unit was to be called, the same organization that the Church in Moldova had was maintained, and the same deaneries that existed previously were preserved, namely: Hotin, Soroca, Fălești, Orhei, Lăpușna, Hotărniceni, Codru, and Lower Bessarabia. Some territories on the left bank of the Dniester were also incorporated into the new eparchy.
At the head of the eparchy, the Archbishop of Chișinău was assisted by the deans (blagocin). The deans oversaw the churches and the priests within their respective deaneries. At that time, the Eparchy of Chișinău and Hotin had 812 churches, of which 712 were in Bessarabia and up to 100 on the left bank of the Dniester.
To resolve the disputes that arose, in September 1813 the “Exarchal Chancellery of Chișinău” was established.
The lack of liturgical books led Bănulescu, on September 25, 1813, to request the Holy Synod’s approval for the establishment of a printing press. On May 4, 1814, the opening of the exarchal printing press in Chișinău was approved.
The training of clergy was to be carried out at the Theological Seminary of Chișinău, which was established in January 1814.
After the passing of Metropolitan Gavriil Bănulescu in 1821, Dimitrie (Sulima), who had until then served as vicar bishop of Tighina and Akerman (since 1811), assumed leadership of the eparchy. During his pastoral tenure, he took a series of measures to improve the functioning of monastic institutions, introducing communal life in 1830 in all monasteries and hermitages in Bessarabia. He also issued numerous instructions for priests to deliver sermons and catechesis during the Divine Liturgy.
He carried out several other reforms as well: in 1835, the “Chancellery” in Chișinău was transformed into the “Church Consistory.” The new unit had administrative, judicial, and supervisory responsibilities. The deaneries were replaced with eight “protopresbyterates,” corresponding to the number of districts in the region. In 1837, the territories on the left bank of the Dniester were removed from the Archbishopric of Chișinău and Hotin and incorporated into the newly organized Archdiocese of Odessa and Kherson.
On August 4, 1844, Archbishop Dimitrie passed away, and Irinarh (Popov) assumed leadership of the eparchy. During his pastoral tenure, the Church in Bessarabia was organized according to the Russian system, and significant construction activity took place. By the end of his tenure in 1858, the eparchy had 565 parish churches, of which 314 were built of stone and 551 of wood, in addition to 36 chapels and 34 churches within the 21 monasteries that existed at the time.
In 1858, the official newspaper of the Bessarabian Church, Herald of the Eparchy of Chișinău and Hotin, was launched, featuring parallel texts in Romanian and Russian. During his tenure, 94 churches were returned to Moldova and incorporated into the new Romanian Eparchy of the Lower Danube, with its episcopal seat in Ismail. In March 1858, Archbishop Irinarh retired from the leadership of the eparchy and was subsequently appointed Archbishop of Kamianets-Podilsk, and later of Ryazan (d. 1877).
After Irinarh (Popov), Antonie (Șocotov) assumed the pastoral leadership of the Church in Bessarabia. During his tenure, the protopresbyterates were abolished, and the archdiocese was divided into 35 “blagocin districts,” each headed by a protopresbyter or dean. The churches were classified into three categories according to the number of faithful.
During his pastoral leadership, the Romanian language was preserved as the language of divine service in the Church, as well as in church documents and in the printing of books. Under Archbishop Antonie, approximately 300 churches were either built from the ground up or restored. Some of these are true architectural monuments, such as those in Vărzărești, Curchi, Călărășeuca, and Condrița, and in 1870, the hermitage at Bocancea was founded.
During this period, significant social welfare activities were carried out through the so-called “brotherhoods.” The first “brotherhood” was established in Chișinău in 1866 under the name “Alexandru Nevschi.” In 1868, the so-called annual “Eparchial Congresses” were initiated; in the same year, the “county congresses” of the deaneries were also inaugurated, and at the eparchial center, an “Eparchial Committee” was in operation. In 1871, Antonie Șocotov passed away, and Pavel (Lebedev) assumed leadership of the Church in Bessarabia.
The tenure of this hierarch is perhaps the most controversial. During this period, there was a significant intensification of the policy of denationalization in Bessarabia. His first step in this direction was to order that in those churches and monasteries where services had previously been conducted in Romanian, they should now be conducted in two languages: Russian and Romanian (Moldovan). The official newspaper of the eparchy, starting in 1871, was published exclusively in Russian.
As the Russian writer Durnovo notes, “all the holy books in the Moldovan churches, printed in Cyrillic in the Moldovan language, were deposited at the Metropolis of Chișinău, where Archbishop Pavel, over the course of seven years, burned them, heating the metropolitan palace with them.”
Great joy was felt in Bessarabia when the news came in 1882 that he had been reassigned elsewhere.
Lebedev’s successor was Serghie (Lapidevschi), who had much work to do in order to calm the unrest caused by the reckless measures of his predecessor. He allowed the use of the Romanian language in church services, but he also proposed the closure of the eparchial printing press, as, in his opinion, it “no longer served any purpose.” Thus, the eparchial printing press was sold to the Noul-Neamț Monastery in Chițcani, not far from Tighina, but it did not remain open for long.
In 1891, Serghie (Lapidevschi) was transferred to the Metropolis of Odessa, and Isachie (Polojenschi) took his place, remaining in Chișinău only until 1892. In that year, Neofit (Nevodicicov) assumed leadership of the Church in Bessarabia, serving until his retirement to Ismail in 1898.
In the same year, the Holy Synod appointed Iacov (Piatnițki) as Bishop of Chișinău and Hotin. He was a true shepherd, being just and full of love for the people entrusted to his care. A particular concern of the hierarch was the promotion of Christian culture and the moral-religious education of both clergy and laity. To this end, he established in Chișinău the “Orthodox Missionary Brotherhood of the Nativity of the Lord,” obtaining permission from the Holy Synod to publish Moldovan brochures and books, including the monumental work Lives of the Saints.
From 1904, the Church in Bessarabia was led by Vladimir (Sincovschi). This man of pure heart was determined to do everything possible for the spiritual prosperity of the people entrusted to his care. To this end, he learned the Romanian language and preached in it at the cathedral in Chișinău. He also introduced the study of Romanian at the Chișinău seminary, personally paying the Romanian language teacher from his own pocket.
Following the decision of the Eparchial Congress in 1905, Archbishop Vladimir requested the Holy Synod’s approval to reopen the eparchial printing press. On April 25, 1905, the reactivation of the printing press was authorized. It was installed in Chișinău in a house donated to the clergy by the Dobrușa Monastery on October 26, 1906.
In January 1908, the first church magazine in the Romanian language in Bessarabia, The Enlightener, was published.
Also during Archbishop Vladimir’s tenure, the “Historical-Archaeological-Church Society of Bessarabia” began its activity. However, many did not approve of his love for and desire to enlighten the people. As a result, in 1908 he was transferred to the Don, and in his place at the Chișinău cathedral came Serafim (Ciciagov), who apparently had been sent to Bessarabia specifically to suppress the Romanian national movement that had begun to develop during the gentle leadership of Vladimir.
During Serafim (Ciciagov)’s leadership of the Church in Bessarabia, a sectarian movement called Inochentism emerged, named after its founder, who had been a monk at the monastery in Balta. A new threat to Orthodoxy in Bessarabia came from the sects. To combat them, a “missionary service” was established in Chișinău.
At the same time, by imperial ukase, the celebration of the Divine Service in the Moldovan language was permitted. Thus, on July 23, 1913, the people of Bessarabia had the happy occasion to hear the entire Liturgy in Romanian.
In 1914, Serafim left Bessarabia, and Platon (Rojdestvenschi), former Archbishop of North America and the Aleutians, took his place. He remained in Chișinău until 1915, when Anastasie (Gribanovschi) was appointed to the See of Chișinău and Hotin.
During his pastoral tenure, several very important events took place for the history of our people.
Thus, on April 19–20, 1917, the Congress of Priests of Bessarabia convened in Chișinău, during which the autonomy of the local Church was demanded, along with the establishment of a Metropolis headed by a hierarch of Romanian origin.
In August, the Local Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church was held in Moscow, in the proceedings of which Archbishop Anastasie of Chișinău also participated. At this Synod, the Archbishopric of Chișinău was elevated to the rank of the Metropolis of Bessarabia.
After the political union of Bessarabia with Romania, by the decree of His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow, dated May 23, 1918, full freedom was granted to the Bessarabian Church in the name of His Beatitude Pimen, Primate of the Romanian Orthodox Church, allowing it, through its Eparchial Congress, to determine its own destiny and choose with which Autocephalous Church and under what relations it wished to be united.
The Church of Bessarabia was merged with that of the entire country, in accordance with Canon 38 of the Trullan Synod, and Archbishop Anastasie became a member of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Church, albeit without giving his consent. For failing to attend the meetings of the Holy Synod, on June 14, 1918, he was removed from his post by the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church. In his place, Bishop Nicodim (Munteanu) of Huși was appointed to manage the ecclesiastical affairs of the Bessarabian Archbishopric until the election of bishops and metropolitans, which was to be carried out by the Great Electoral College.
In February 1920, the Eparchial Congress was held in Chișinău, during which Gurie (Grosu), former vicar bishop at the Metropolis of Iași, was elected as the hierarch of the Church in Bessarabia.
During His Beatitude Gurie’s pastoral tenure, the work of building holy sites continued. By 1925, their number had reached 1,090, served by 1,090 priests.
Theological education was raised to a higher level; thus, in September 1926, the Faculty of Theology of the University of Iași was established in Chișinău. In 1927, the “Metropolitan Gavriil Bănulescu” Theological Seminary in Chișinău was reorganized, reducing the number of grades from ten to eight. Two additional eight-grade theological seminaries were also established, one in Ismail and the other in Edineț.
During this period, the professors Nichifor Crainic, Gala Galaction, Constantin Tomescu, Ioan Savin, Serghie Bejan, Mihail Berezovschi, and others carried out fruitful activities.
The old Bessarabian monasteries continued their spiritual work, with the number of monks rising to over 2,400.
A reform of the Church in Bessarabia was also carried out. Thus, in addition to the Archbishopric of Chișinău, on March 10, 1923, two new eparchies were organized in the Bessarabian Church: that of Cetatea Albă, with its seat in Ismail, and that of Hotin, with its seat in Bălți. The first bishop of the Cetatea Albă Eparchy was Nectarie (Cotlearciuc), and the first bishop of Hotin was Visarion (Puiu). In April 1928, the Archbishopric of Chișinău was elevated to the rank of Metropolis.
Gurie (Grosu) led the Church in Bessarabia until 1936.
After Gurie (Grosu), the Metropolis of Bessarabia was led by several acting archbishops: Nicodim (Munteanu) (November 1936 – June 1937), Cosma (Petrovici) (June 1937 – February 1938), and Efrem (Enachescu) (March 1938 – January 1944).
While the lives of the faithful in Bessarabia followed their natural course, the situation of Orthodox Christians on the left bank of the Dniester under the Communist yoke was deplorable, sharing the martyrdom of the entire Christian population remaining under atheistic Bolshevik rule.
Thus, at the beginning of 1918, Dionisie (Sosnovschi), former vicar bishop at Ismail, was killed at Veatca station, and on January 1, Serafim (Ciciagov), former Archbishop of Chișinău and Hotin, was killed in prison. In their relentless struggle against the Church, the Bolsheviks had, by 1938, closed almost all churches, leaving only a single Orthodox church functioning out of the 305 that had existed before the 1917 revolution in the 14 districts that, in 1924, formed the so-called Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
The situation was catastrophic for the conscience of the faithful; many of them performed their own funeral services while still alive, fearing that no one would remain to bury them according to Christian rites when they died. The “enlightened” life of the Communist “paradise” had also been brought to Bessarabia.
In 1940, Bessarabia was occupied by the Soviets as a result of the “Secret Additional Protocol of the Ribbentrop–Molotov Pact” of 1939.
June 28, 1940, brought a year of great suffering for the people of Bessarabia. The Bolsheviks’ attitude toward the Bessarabian clergy was particularly cruel. Thus, Father Munteanu was killed in Ismail, and the renowned priest-composer Mihail Berezovschi died under mysterious circumstances. On June 24, 1941, Bishop Alexie, who in the autumn of 1940 had been entrusted by the Patriarchate of Moscow to lead the Metropolis of Bessarabia, was arrested.
When the war began, during their retreat, the Soviet troops committed a series of barbaric acts against the Bessarabian clergy.
Thus, in the village of Pitușca in the summer of 1941, during the withdrawal of Soviet forces, Father Eustratie Chiriță was executed for having celebrated a Te Deum for the victory of the Romanian Army. In the village of Caruna (Tighina), several villagers were killed while trying to protest against the burning of the church.
With the return of Bessarabia to Romania, the work of restoring church structures began both there and in Transnistria.
Efrem Enachescu returned to Chișinău and, on January 12, 1944, was elected Archbishop and Metropolitan of Bessarabia. The churches that had been closed by the Communists were reopened. Thus, during the war, there were 888 Orthodox churches and 25 monasteries functioning in the territory of Bessarabia and the districts on the left bank of the Dniester.
After the restoration of Soviet power in August 1944, Metropolitan Efrem Enachescu retired to Cernica Monastery, and the Church in Bessarabia was incorporated into the Moscow Patriarchate, which sent Ieronim (Zaharov) as Bishop of Chișinău and Moldova. He was succeeded by Benedict (Poleacov), who led the Diocese of Chișinău from 1947 to 1948. Afterwards, Nectarie (Grigoriev) assumed the see of Chișinău and led the Church in the Moldavian SSR from 1948 to 1963.
The pastoral period of Nectarie (Grigoriev) coincided with a new wave of struggle against religion. As a result, the closure of churches began again. From 1960 onward, nearly 200 churches were closed, leaving only 385 active out of the almost 900 that had been functioning in 1944. All monasteries were closed except for the one at Japca. The closure—or, more accurately, the liquidation—of churches was often justified under the pretext of violations of Soviet legislation on religious cults.
The “notables” in the special commissions created in all the districts of the republic monitored every action of the priest. It was enough to consecrate a well, a cross, or to baptize a child without the consent of both parents, and the priest would be removed from the records, which in turn led to the liquidation of the parish.
The closure of churches and monasteries sometimes led to protests from the faithful. For example, during the liquidation of Răciula Monastery, the Communists encountered desperate resistance from the nuns and the population of the surrounding villages.
Also, during the 1970s, the protopresbyterates were abolished. Priests were deprived of the possibility of participating in the administration of parishes, being reduced to the role of simple contracted employees of religious communities.
In 1963, Vartolomeu (Condratovici) was appointed Bishop of Chișinău; in 1972 he was transferred to Tashkent, and Ionatan (Capolovici) succeeded him. Although the Church was deprived of the possibility of publishing liturgical books or any other literature with religious content, during the pastoral tenure of Bishop Ionatan a new Romanian-language Aghiasmatar (Trebnik), written in Cyrillic script, was published.
This humble and devout archpastor led the diocese until 1987, when he was replaced by the ill-reputed Serapion (Fadeev), who worked extensively to undermine the Church in Bessarabia and was eventually expelled by the locals for his hatred toward the native population.
In 1989, for the first time since 1944, a native of the region, Vladimir (Cantarean), was appointed to the see of Chișinău. He has shepherded the Metropolis of Chișinău and Moldova up to the present day.
With the triumph of democracy, the relationship between the state and the Church changed. The Church gained the opportunity to carry out its work in all directions. In 1989, two auxiliary bishops were consecrated: Petru (Păduraru) and Vichentie (Moraru). At the same time, religious education activities began. Thus, the Cultural and Church Society began publishing the magazine Luminătorul, and starting in 1995, Curierul Ortodox appeared, with the supplement Pravoslavnîi Vesnic, both edited by the Metropolis of Chișinău and Moldova. The Metropolis also operates a printing house in Orhei, as well as a mill and a bindery.
The social work of the Church was also reactivated, providing religious assistance in hospitals and penitentiaries. Since 1995, an Orthodox orphanage, St. Joseph, has been opened in Chișinău, maintained by Hâncu Monastery.
For the training of clergy, a singers’ school has operated in Chiștelnița (since 1992), a Theological Seminary at Noul-Neamț Monastery functioned from 1990 to 2001, and the Theological Academy, active since 1993, continues to operate. From 1991 to 1993, it functioned as the Theological Faculty within the State University of Moldova.
The Metropolis of Chișinău and Moldova (or the Orthodox Church of Moldova), canonically under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Patriarchate, is internally independent, as provided by the decision of the Hierarchical Synod in Moscow in December 1994. It conducts its activities according to the Statute of the Russian Orthodox Church of August 2000, as well as its own Statute, approved by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Moldova No. 719 on November 17, 1993.
Priest Nicolae Fuștei, scientific researcher at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Moldova