Hundreds of faithful persons protest in central Chisinau

Hundreds of faithful persons and Orthodox Church officials from a number of districts came together in front of the God’s Birth Cathedral in the morning of September 23 to protest against the registration of the Islamic denomination in Moldova. The column of protesters later headed for the UN head office and the Ministry of Justice, saying prayers for enlightening the politicians, Info-Prim Neo reports. The protesters demand that the Orthodox religion should be named official religion. According to the head of the Alliance of Orthodox Associations of Moldova Ghenadie Valuta, the Ministry of Justice is preparing amendments to the Law on Denominations whereby all the denominations, without exception, will be allowed to work openly on the country’s territory, while the status of the Orthodox religion will be decreased to that of a minor religion. The demonstrators also ask rejecting the antidiscrimination bill and adjusting the legislation of Moldova to the Christian values of the people. In a letter to the UN, the protesters demanded taking into account Moldova’s specific features when a report on denominations is produced. The request was made in reaction to the assessment made by a UN expert, who said the Orthodox Church enjoys an overly predominant position in Moldova. The Christians continue to say prayers and expect that a representative of the UN will come out. Afterward, they will go to the Great National Assembly Square to state their demands in front of the Government Building. About 90% of Moldova’s population are Orthodox Christians.