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[http://www.orthodoxwiki.org/Moldovan_Orthodox_Church| 2003 figures] show the Metropolis of Bessarabia has 84 parishes in Moldova while the autonomous [[Moldovan Orthodox Church]] has 1080 parishes.[http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2003/24423.htm]
→The Church in Moldova: citation
Following the creation of Greater Romania after the First World War, Orthodox Christians in Moldova became part of the Church of Romania. Following Stalin's annexation of the country in 1944, the church there was again brought under the authority of the [[Church of Russia]]. Following the fall of communism, Moldova's government refused to allow the Romanian church to exercise any authority in Moldova. The Bessarabian metropolis was created by the Romanian Patriarchate to cater for those clergy and people wanting to return part of Moldova to Romanian rule. With the European Court ruling of 2001, the Metropolis of Bessarabia was declared to be a part of the Church of Romania and permitted to operate in Moldova.
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