The Canonization Commission of the Moldovan Metropolitan Church is to examine a number of nominees for canonization. Among these are priest Gheorghe Ivanov, who was killed in his house because he didn’t obey the Soviets, priest Vasile Makedonski, who was shot dead in jail, and hieromonach Vikentie together with his mother Glicheria, who were killed with cruelty after the first didn’t allow the Communist regime to close the church in Taslic village of Grigoriopol district.
In an interview for the newspaper “Timpul”, His Holiness Petru, Bishop of Ungheni and Nisporeni, who heads the Canonization Commission, said that a file with information about their life and death is compiled in the case of each of the nominees and not their miracles represent the main criterion for canonization, IPN reports.
The bishop said the files are submitted to the Metropolitan Church by the bishoprics of which the nominees formed part and are then distributed to the Canonization Commission. After analyzing them thoroughly, the Commission presents them to the Patriarch of Moscow, where they are examined by specialists from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Estonia.
According to his Holiness Petru, as in 2013 it was 200 years of the foundation of the Bishopric of Chisinau, which was first headed by Metropolitan Bishop Gavriil, whose life is described in historical accounts, the Metropolitan Church and the faithful proposed him for canonization. Thus, officials in charge compiled the file in 2012 by collecting information in the cities where the hierarch worked, such as Odessa, Iasi, Bucharest, Kiev and St. Petersburg.
Metropolitan Bishop Gavril Banulescu Bodoni was canonized on September 3 this year in a service held at Capriana Monastery by a group of priests led by the Metropolitan Bishop of Chisinau and All Moldova Vladimir. He is the first saint canonized on the territory between the Nistru and Prut Rivers. On September 24, a service to canonize Pious Agafia will take place at Cuselauca Monastery in Soldanesti district.
