Document #1284763
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
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.
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.
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.