“Today, May 4, 2025, as we stand before the Holy Altars with gratitude to God and sacred emotion in our hearts, we commemorate with joy and national dignity the 100th anniversary of the elevation of the Archdiocese of Chișinău to the rank of Metropolis,” said Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia on Sunday.
“This Centennial Year is not merely a chronological anniversary, but a testimony to the triumph of truth, the continuity of Romanian identity, and the Orthodox faith in the blessed land between the Prut and the Dniester Rivers.”
His Eminence emphasized that the anniversary is a day of “prayer, remembrance, and honouring all those who gave their soul, blood, and sacrifice in the service of the people so that the Church of our Nation could carry out its saving mission in freedom and dignity.”
“Today, we bow humbly before the memory of the saintly Metropolitan Gurie Grosu, a lover of truth, who awaits—humbly—in the cemetery of Cernica Monastery his return to Bessarabia and his rightful place in the Synaxarion, alongside Metropolitan Efrem Enăchescu, the first bearers of this worthy metropolitan cross in Romanian Bessarabia,” Metropolitan Petru added.
“Today, the Metropolis of Bessarabia is experiencing an unprecedented phase of development, despite challenges and obstacles from internal or external interests hostile to its own people.”
Gratitude and Hope
Metropolitan Petru of Bessarabia also stated that “the grace and love of Christ are at work through the four worthy hierarchs of our Metropolis, through our well-prepared and deeply committed priests and deacons, through the monks and nuns who pray unceasingly for the world, and through the hundreds of parish communities across Bessarabia, united around the ideals of faith, language, nation, and truth.”
“This ecclesial revival is, providentially, reminiscent of the rebirth of the Metropolis after the Great Union of 1918, when the people between the Prut and the Dniester asked to be received back home, into their natural cradle, fighting for language, history, nation, and ancestral faith.”
His Eminence thanked His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel of Romania for supporting the Metropolis of Bessarabia and all the members of the Holy Synod.
“May this Centennial be the beginning of a new era of light, peace, and fruitful life in Truth and communion with the entire Romanian Orthodox Church!” concluded Metropolitan Petru.
The Archdiocese of Chișinău was elevated to the rank of Metropolis by Royal Decree No. 1942, dated May 4, 1925, signed by His Majesty King Ferdinand I of Romania.
Photo: Basilica.ro files / Mircea Florescu
