Metropolis of Bessarabia

Metropolis of Bessarabia
Organization of the Metropolis of Bessarabia
Location
Territory Moldova
HeadquartersChișinău
Statistics
Population
- Total

720,000
Information
DenominationEastern Orthodox
Sui iuris churchRomanian Patriarchate (Autonomous Metropolis)
Established1918
LanguageRomanian
Current leadership
BishopMetropolitan Petru
Website
mitropoliabasarabiei.md
St. Teodora de la Sihla Church
Administrative map of the Romanian Orthodox Church, including the Metropolis of Bessarabia

The Metropolis of Bessarabia (Romanian: Mitropolia Basarabiei), also referred to as the Bessarabian Orthodox Church,[1] is an autonomous Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan bishopric of the Romanian Orthodox Church, situated in Moldova. Its canonical jurisdiction is the territory of the Republic of Moldova, and over the Moldovan and Romanian Orthodox diaspora from the former USSR.[2]

The Metropolis of Bessarabia was created in 1918, as the Archbishopric of Chișinău, and organized as a Metropolis, in 1927.[3] Inactive during the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia (1940–1941) and the Soviet rule in Moldova (1944–1991), the Metropolis of Bessarabia was re-activated on 14 September 1992, and raised to the rank of exarchate, in 1995. The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia is Petru (Păduraru).[4]

  1. ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2007 about Moldova
  2. ^ Mitropolia Ortodoxa Romana a Basarabiei at crestinortodox.ro
  3. ^ "The Position of the Romanian Patriarchate concerning the Reactivation of the Three Dioceses in the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2014-02-04.
  4. ^ Administrative Organisation of the Romanian Orthodox Church Archived 2014-01-23 at the Wayback Machine at patriarhia.ro