Moldova Hosts the World Congress of Families

Moldova will host on Friday and Saturday a gathering of conservative, anti-gay and anti-abortion Christian groups called the World Congress of Families under the auspices of pro-Russian President Igor Dodon.

Also, the event has the support of the benefit fund of Igor Dodon`s wife, Galina Dodon, an NGO which allegedly conducts some political driven social campaigns.

But the main sponsors of World Congress of Families are Konstantin Malofeyev and Vladimir Yakunin, two conservative Russian oligarchs with close ties to the Kremlin who finance Russia-friendly and Christian Orthodox initiatives in former Soviet countries and in the West.

Malofeyev's business partner, Aleksei Komov, is on the World Congress of Families' board. Yakunin's wife, Natalia Yakunina, is the head of one of its member groups, the Sanctity of Motherhood, according to Radio Free Europe.

Russian Patriarch Kirill is expected to this event, although there are controversial info so far about his presence in Chisinau. 

The World Congress of Families' stances includes defending traditional marriage, opposing abortion, and condemning anti-discrimination measures intended to protect people of all sexual orientations.

Speakers at the Congress usually blame the West for moral degradation and destroying the meaning of the traditional family.

According to Dodon, several hundred people from over 40 countries confirmed their participation in the event. 

Among them Papal Cardinal, the secretary of Vatican, Pietro Parolin; Olga Epifanova, vice-president of Russia`s State Duma; Brian Brown, the president of the International Organization for the Family; Prince Louis de Bourbon from France, representatives of the metropolises from several states...