In a message occasioned by the 103rd anniversary of the Union of Bessarabia with Romania, on March 27, 2021, Metropolitan Petru stressed that the example of the forerunners who accomplished the Union in 1918 “encourages us to remain steadfast and confident, that we can last forever in one Romanian breath, despite the (hopefully temporary) existing borders.”
Metropolitan Petru reiterated that “the actions of uniting the entire Romanian spirit in a single state, were supported, first of all by the Church, by its devoted priests, both in Bessarabia and throughout Romania.”
The act of Union, said the hierarch, keeps us determined and courageous today in promoting Orthodox Romanianism in Bessarabia (today the Republic of Moldova), even if we are in a state separate from the whole of Romania.
Find below the message of Metropolitan Petru on the 103rd anniversary of Bessarabia’s Union with Romania
The Union of 1918 constituted, for the entire Romanian breath, an unrepeatable act of a national, cultural, but especially ecclesiastical historical significance. The event is even more essential for us as this movement for Romanian unity started from Bessarabia. Later, it was shared with all the Romanian confreres from the entire Romanian territory.
All of us need to know the context in which this event took place and the fact that the thoughts and actions of uniting the entire Romanian spirit in a single state were supported, first of all by the Church, by its devoted priests, both in Bessarabia as well as on the entire Romanian space.
In this context, we believe that it is vital to promote and spread the spirit of sacrifice of those who voted for the Union of Bessarabia with the Motherland – Romania, especially because later, the vast majority of them were subjected to injustice and humiliation imposed by the occupiers, at least here in Bessarabia.
The moment that happened in 1918 keeps us today determined and courageous in promoting Orthodox Romanianism in Bessarabia (today the Republic of Moldova), even if we are in a state separate from the whole of Romania. We are separated from a civil point of view, but as a Church, we are united, and we are happy to be part of the Romanian Orthodox Mother Church today.
The thought of our forerunners who made the Union in 1918 and the Romanian Patriarchate’s support through various actions encourages us to remain steadfast and confident that we can last for centuries in one Romanian breath, despite the existing (hopefully temporary) borders.
† Petru
Metropolitan of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Territories
Source: basilica.ro
