Metropolitan of Bessarabia

Metropolis of Bessarabia
Organization of the Metropolis of Bessarabia
Location
Territory	Moldova
Headquarters	Chișinău
Statistics
Population - Total	720,000
Information
Denomination	Eastern Orthodox
Sui iuris church	Romanian Patriarchate (Autonomous Metropolis)
Established	1918
Language	Romanian
Current leadership
Bishop	Petru (Păduraru)
Website
mitropoliabasarabiei.md

The Metropolis of Bessarabia (Romanian: Mitropolia Basarabiei), also referred to as the Bessarabian Orthodox Church, is a Moldovan Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan bishopric of the Romanian Orthodox Church. The Metropolis of Bessarabia was created in 1918, as the Archbishopric of Chișinău, and organized as a Metropolis, in 1927. Inactive during the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia (1940-1941) and the Soviet rule in Moldova (1944-1991), it was re-activated on 14 September 1992. In 1995, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was raised to the rank of exarchate, with jurisdiction over the territory of Moldova. The current Metropolitan of Bessarabia is Petru (Păduraru).

In 1812, after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire, the Orthodox churches were re-organized as the Eparchy of Chişinău and Hotin, from the churches and monasteries of the Metropolis of Moldavia on that territory that no longer belonged to the Principality of Moldavia, by Gavril Bănulescu-Bodoni, a popular promoter of Moldavian/Romanian language and culture, who also served as its first Archbishop. After 1821, the Russian state and church started an extended policy of Russification.