Information on the registered cults (religions) and number of churches in Kishinev (Chisinau) and rural Moldova, including the number of new ones registered or constructed in 1993 [MDA17005.E]

According to statistics provided in C.I.S. and Eastern Europe on File, 98 per cent of the population is Eastern Orthodox, 1.5 per cent Jewish, and the remaining 0.5 per cent belong to other religions (1993, 5.13).

The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe indicates that according to the Moldovan government, in June 1992 there were 853 Orthodox churches, 14 Old Believers churches, 11 Roman Catholic communities, 61 Seventh Day Adventist communities, 184 Baptist churches, 34 Pentecostal communities, and a number of other small denominations (1993, 90).

According to a representative of the Embassy of Moldova in Washington, DC, seven kinds of religions are registered in Moldova (18 Apr. 1994). The 1994 figures provided by the representative include 840 Orthodox churches, 19 Orthodox monasteries, "16 or 18 old-style Orthodox churches," 20 Roman Catholic churches, one Baptist of the 7th day church in Kishinev, one Armenian Gregorian church in Kishinev, and one Mosaic church in Kishinev (ibid.).

According to a representative of the European Baptist Federation in Hamburg, Germany, there are currently 225 Baptist churches in Moldova, and 18,000 registered Baptists (12 Apr. 1994).

This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

C.I.S. and Eastern Europe on File. 1993. New York: Facts on File.

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). January 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. Washington, DC: CSCE.

Embassy of Moldova, Washington, DC. 18 April 1994. Telephone interview with representative.

European Baptist Federation, Hamburg, Germany. 12 April 1994. Telephone interview with representative.

Attachments

C.I.S. and Eastern Europe on File. 1993. New York: Facts on File.

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE). January 1993. Human Rights and Democratization in the Newly Independent States of the Former Soviet Union. Washington, DC: CSCE.