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The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice; however, the 1992 Law on Religions, which codifies religious freedoms, contains restrictions that inhibit the activities of unregistered religious groups. Although the law was amended in 2002, many of the restrictions remain in place. The law provides for freedom of religious practice, including each person's right to profess his or her religion in any form. It also protects the confidentiality of the confessional, allows denominations to establish associations and foundations, and states that the Government may not interfere in the religious activities of denominations. The law specifies that "in order to organize and function", religious organizations must be registered with the Government, and unregistered groups may not own property, engage employees, or obtain space in public cemeteries in their own names. There is no state religion; however, the Metropolis of Chişinău and Moldova receives some favored treatment from the Government. The Metropolitan of Chişinău and Moldova has a diplomatic passport. Other high-ranking Orthodox Church officials also reportedly have diplomatic passports issued by the Government. The procedures for registering a religious organization are the same for all groups. In 2002, Parliament adopted amendments to the Law on Religions. A religious organization wishing to register must present a declaration of creation, by-laws, and an explanation of its basic religious beliefs to the State Service on Religious Issues. The State Service on Religious Issues enters the religious organization into the Register of Religions within 30 working days. Under the new procedures, at the request of the State Service on Religious Issues, a court can annul the recognition of the religious organization if the organization "carries out activities that harm the independence, sovereignty, integrity, and security of the Republic of Moldova, the public order, or are connected with political activities." The amendments also provide that religious organizations are prohibited from including in their by-laws any provisions that would violate the Constitution or any other laws. The Government has recognized and registered 21 religious organizations, many of which are umbrella organizations with sub-entities throughout the country. Although the 2002 amendments to the Law on Religions were intended to simplify the registration process and make the process essentially automatic, the State Service on Religious Issues continues to deny the registration of somegroups, such as the Spiritual Organization of Muslims. Members of this organization repeatedly tried to register with the State Service on Religious Issues and their applications were denied because the State Service claimed their documents were not in order. A number of other organizations have been denied registration or encountered difficulties in connection with their registration applications. In 1999, amendments to the Law on Religions legalizing proselytizing went into effect. However, the law explicitly forbids "abusive proselytizing", which is defined as an attempt to influence an individual's religious faith through violence or abuse of authority. In 2002, a new draft Law on Religions, which contained numerous contentious provisions, was circulated. The draft law originally contained numerous restrictive measures. The draft law has since been revised, and it appears that many of the restrictive articles have been deleted. In February 2003, a new Law on Combating Extremism was passed by Parliament and took effect in March 2003. Critics of the law raised concerns that the law could be used to abuse opposition organizations, which could include religious organizations or individuals who may support or have political ties to certain parties. But in practice this law had never been used against any religious organizations. A new Criminal Code, adopted by Parliament in April 2002 and in effect since June 2003, includes an article which permits punishment for "preaching religious beliefs or fulfillment of religious rituals, which cause harm to the health of citizens, or other harm to their persons or rights, or instigate citizens not to participate in public life or of the fulfillment of their obligations as citizens." Drafters allegedly copied the passage almost word-for-word from the previous code, which was passed in 1961 when the country was part of the Soviet Union. No organization was prosecuted under this new code. Article 200 of the Administrative Offenses Code, which was adopted in 1985, prohibits any religious activities of registered or unregistered religions that violate current legislation. The article also allows for the expulsion of foreign citizens who engage in religious activities without the consent of authorities. The Spiritual Organization of Muslims has reported being fined under this provision of law for holding its religious services in a location registered to a charitable organization. The Government charged that their activities are not in line with the stated activities and purposes of the charitable organization. Foreign missionaries are permitted to enter the country for 90 days on a tourist visa. They have no advantages over other foreigners who wish to stay in the country for longer periods. In 2000, Parliament amended the Law on Education to make "moral and spiritual instruction" mandatory for primary school students and optional for secondary and university students. The program was introduced gradually, beginning in 2001, for first graders, and then in 2002 and 2003 for second and third graders, respectively. In some schools, there is a class specifically on religion, although this course is conditioned on a request and approval by the parents, and the availability of funds to cover the cost of the course. There are a number of theological institutes, seminaries, and other places of religious education in the country. Two public schools and a kindergarten are open only to Jewish students, and a kindergarten in Chişinău has a special "Jewish group". These schools receive the same funding as other state schools and are supplemented by financial support from the community. However, Jewish students are not restricted to these schools. There are no comparable schools for other religious faiths and no reports of such schools for other religious faiths. Agudath Israel operates a private boys' yeshiva and a girls' yeshiva, both licensed by the Ministry of Education. The total enrollment of both schools is fewer than 100 students. Total enrollment for all Jewish related schools, including those operated by Agudath Israel and public schools, is approximately 300. The authorities in Transnistria also impose registration requirements that negatively affect religious groups and have denied registration to some groups. In April, a new draft Law on Religions, which reportedly contained numerous contentious provisions, was brought before the Transnistrian Supreme Soviet. Following strong objections from the Orthodox Bishop of Tiraspol and some legislators, the draft was sent back for revisions. Despite these protests, the objectionable provisions of the draft law are reportedly strongly supported by a number of high-level authorities in Transnistria. == Restrictions on Religious Freedom == The Law on Religions contains restrictions that have inhibited the activities of unregistered religious groups, and the Government continued to deny registration to some religious groups. Unregistered religious organizations are not permitted to buy land or obtain construction permits for churches or seminaries. In some cases, members of unregistered religious groups hold services in homes, nongovernmental organization (NGO) offices, and other locations. In other cases, the groups obtain property and permits in the names of individual members. Individual churches or branches of officially registered religious organizations are not obliged to register with local authorities; however,the local branch must register locally if it wants to make legal transactions as a legal body, including the ability to receive donations in its name. Between the two autonomous Eastern Orthodox churches (Moldovan Orthodox Church belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church, and Metropolis of Bessarabia belonging to the Romanian Orthodox Church) there is an ongoing politically charged succession dispute, which, from an ecclesiastical point of view, is an administrative only issue (subject to canon laws), not a theological one, the two belonging respectively to two autocephalous Churches (of Russia and of Romania), which are within the Eastern Orthodox communion. Thus, in 2001, the Government declared the Moldovan Orthodox Church the successor of the pre-World War II Romanian Orthodox Church for purposes of all property ownership. The Metropolis of Bessarabia was reactivated in 1992 (after Moldova declared independence in 1991) when a number of priests broke away from the Moldovan Orthodox Church, and was only officially recognized in 2002, after years of being denied recognition. The dispute was brought in front of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) which ruled in 2004 in favor of the Metropolis of Bessarabia as the "spiritual, canonical, historical successor of the Metropolitan See of Bessarabia which functioned till 1944, including".〔cf. press release: (A legitimate act for defending the Romanian identity - Explanations concerning the juridical recognition of the Metropolitan See of Bessarabia and of the suffragan eparchies ), Romanian Patriarchy, 21 February 2008. — () — () — () 〕 In February 2004, the Supreme Court repealed the Government's 2001 decision. In April 2004, in response to an appeal submitted by the Government, the Supreme Court rescinded its February ruling, making the Moldovan Orthodox Church once again the legal successor to the pre-World War II Romanian Orthodox Church. The Metropolis of Bessarabia, which regards itself as the legal and canonical successor to the pre-World War II Romanian Orthodox Church, being endorsed by the ECHR, does not accept this decision. The registration issue has political as well as religious overtones, since it raises the question of whether the Orthodox Church should be oriented toward the Moscow Patriarchate or the Bucharest Patriarchate. In May 2002, after a long series of registration denials and legal appeals, the Supreme Court of Justice ruled that the Government must register the Church of the True Orthodox-Moldova, a branch of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, which is based in the United States. The State Service on Religious Issues failed to implement the decision in the stipulated 30 days and subsequently asked the Court for a 2-week extension to register the church. But after 3 weeks, instead of registering the church, the Service filed an extraordinary appeal with the Court of Appeals. The Court reviewed the appeal and declared that the Service was not allowed to file the appeal, since the case was made against the Government, not the Service. Within a couple of weeks another appeal from the Prime Minister was filed. In early 2004, the appeal was sent to the Supreme Court and was under examination at the end of the period covered by this report. The Church had submitted applications for registration in 1997, 1998, and 2000; the Government rejected these applications on various grounds. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Freedom of religion in Moldova」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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