Metropolitan Antonie of Bălți appointed head of the Bessarabian Orthodox Metropolia

On 2 July 2026 the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church elected Bishop Antonie of Bălți as the new Archbishop of Chișinău, Metropolitan of Bessarabia and Exarch of the Plains. The election follows the retirement of Metropolitan Petru Păduraru, who led the Metropolia for over three decades, and ends a transition period.

Antonie, 63, was born in the village of Hârbovăț in Anenii Noi district. He first studied medicine and pharmacy at the Chișinău university before completing theological training at the Dumitru Stăniloae Faculty in Iași. Since 1995 he has held various administrative, missionary, cultural and editorial positions within the Metropolia, became vicar bishop of Chișinău in 2014 and was appointed Bishop of Bălți in 2018. His elevation consolidates the church’s structures in the Republic of Moldova.