24 years since the recognition of the Metropolitanate of Bessarabia: Reaffirmation of a historical, canonical and spiritual truthtranslated

Metropolitan Anthony of Bessarabia officiated a Te Deum at the "St. John the Theologian" Metropolitan Chapel in Chisinau on Thursday, when it was 24 years since the official recognition of the Metropolis of Bessarabia re-established after the fall of communism.

The service was followed by the reading of a message from the Most Reverend Father Antonie, in which the moment is characterized as "reaffirming a historical, canonical and spiritual truth, after a long period in which religious freedom was tested by the consequences of a totalitarian past".

The metropolitan father emphasized in the message that the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of the Metropolis of Bessarabia and others against the Republic of Moldova, pronounced on December 13, 2001 and implemented by the authorities through the official recognition of the Metropolis of Bessarabia on July 30, 2002, represents one of the most important decisions on religious freedom pronounced in the European space after the fall of the totalitarian regimes.

The decision reaffirmed a fundamental principle of democratic society: religious freedom includes the right of faith communities to organize their lives according to their own...