On Saturday, May 23, 2026, His Eminence Vladimir, Metropolitan of Chișinău and All Moldova, celebrated the Holy and Divine Liturgy at the Parish of the “Protection of the Mother of God” in Văratic village, Ialoveni District.
The celebration began with the rite of the consecration of the church interior, followed by the festal Divine Liturgy.
Joining the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Moldova in prayer were priest Petru Pisica, Secretary of the Ialoveni Deanery; priest Mitred Dumitru Odihnă, rector of the host parish; together with a gathering of priests and deacons.
The liturgical responses were offered by the choir of the Monastery of “Saint Prince Vladimir” in Horăști.
During the Little Entrance, His Eminence bestowed ecclesiastical distinctions upon several clergy members as follows:
- Priest Dumitru Odihnă, rector of the parish community, was granted the right to celebrate the Divine Liturgy with the Royal Doors open until the Cherubic Hymn and was awarded the Second Degree Order of Saint Hierarch Gavriil Bănulescu-Bodoni;
- Priest Gheorghe Gurschii, rector of the Church of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian in Mileștii Noi village, was granted the right to wear the Mitre;
- Priest Valeriu Gîțu, rector of the Church of Saint Great Martyr Demetrius in Dănceni village, was awarded the Second Degree Order of Stephen the Great and Holy;
- Priest Grigore Țurcanu, rector of the Church of Saint Hierarch Nicholas in Horăști village, was awarded the Third Degree Order of Ecclesiastical Merit.
At the conclusion of the service, a procession around the church took place, followed by a thanksgiving Te Deum offered in gratitude for God’s help in the construction of this church.
“We congratulate all the faithful of this parish — diligent and enlightened by faith and prayer — who, under the protection of the Mother of God, worked side by side and offered pleasing labor to God in the building of this church,” stated the Metropolitan.
Following the Te Deum service, priest Dumitru, the parish rector, expressed gratitude to the Primate for his archpastoral ministry and for the goodwill and fatherly love he continually shows toward the Orthodox Church and its faithful.
Synodal Department for Institutional Communication and Media Relations
