The Senate plenary adopted a legislative proposal regarding the financial support granted by the Romanian state to the Metropolia of Bessarabia in the Republic of Moldova, a component part of the Romanian Orthodox Church, through which 2 million euros are allocated annually.

It is a necessary bill, first of all, from a historical point of view and represents the beginning of a moral reparation, stated PSD senator Titus Corlatean, during the plenary debates.

Titus Corlatean: The Metropolia of Bessarabia was reactivated in 1992 by the decision of the synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, but it was only recognized in 2002, after many obstacles raised by the various governments of the Republic of Moldova, and only after the European Court of Human Rights condemned the Republic of Moldova for violating several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is a beginning of moral reparation.

The opposition also supported the bill.

AUR Senator Claudiu Tarziu: There is a great need for money in Bessarabia, there is glaring poverty from one end to the other. The church also suffers from poverty, although you must know that before the war this metropolia was the richest one in the Romanian Orthodox Church, but of course after the Soviet occupation and after the long communist regime nothing was left for the church.

The legislative proposal met 109 votes for and two against and goes to the Chamber of Deputies for a decisive vote.

Translated by: Radu Matei

SOURCE: Radio România Actualități