On Thursday, His Eminence Metropolitan Petru and Romania’s Prime-minister Nicolae-Ionel Ciuca visited the church of Sts Peter and Paul in Chisinau, which will serve as the future metropolitan cathedral for the Metropolis of Bessarabia.
During the visit, the Metropolitan of Bessarabia pointed to the community’s needs and difficulties in painting the church and finishing other works there.
Metropolitan Petru requested more dynamic support from the authorities in Bucharest by increasing the budget allocated to the Metropolis of Bessarabia and supplementing the number of clerical and non-clerical salaries because more and more priests want to access the canonical care of the Romanian Orthodox Church, the Metropolis of Bessarabia reported on its website.
The Prime Minister of Romania announced that the Government would support the projects of the Metropolis of Bessarabia through the State Secretariat for Religious Affairs and the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.
The Romanian Prime Minister was accompanied by a delegation comprised of the Romanian Ambassador to Chisinau, Cristian-Leon Țurcanu, the Head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery, Mircea Abrudean, the State Secretary of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova, Adrian Dupu, the Secretary General of the Department for Relations with Republic of Moldova, Nicolae Ivășchescu, and other officials.
At the end of the visit, the Metropolitan of Bessarabia presented the Romanian Prime Minister with an icon of Saint Nicholas. In turn, the Prime Minister of Romania offered Metropolitan Petru a painting of Peleș Castle as a gift.
Photography courtesy of the Metropolis of Bessarabia
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