The Ministry of Justice has received an application for the registration of a fifth metropolitan church in Moldova – the Autocephalous Church – Justice Minister Alexandru Tanase has told Info-Prim Neo. Autocephaly is the status of a hierarchical church whose head bishop does not report to any higher-ranking bishop. Besides the two major churches – the Metropolitan Church of Moldova and the Metropolitan Church of Bessarabia – two other metropolitan churches are registered in Moldova – one subordinated to the Kiev Patriarchate and another subordinated to the Russian Orthodox Church in Exile. Vitalie Plesca, senior lecturer at ULIM's History Department, said that given the recent ecclesiastical interference in the Moldovan political life, the emergence of an autocephalous, autonomous church would be saluted for its lack of allegiance to the Moscow Patriarchate or the Bucharest Patriarchate.