The Metropolitanate of Moldova and Bucovina, in eastern Romania, has founded an institution from which priests and believers can take out loans at an interest rate of 6 per cent, well below to the current rates in the banking sector.

“We will surely receive many requests for loans due to the low interest rates. Our institution is also trustworthy, as it belongs to the Church,” Fr Grigore Timoftescu, the figure in charge of the financial institution, said.

The credit house will offer small loans of up to 5,000 lei (about 1,100 euro) from next week.

Interested persons may apply after paying about 15 euro in registration fees and taxes, but only if he or she makes an official statement that they belong to the Orthodox Church. The applicant should also have a steady source of income.

It is not the first time the Church has entered the money market. Last year, the Romanian Patriarchate introduced a new blessing service, whereby priests pray for the health of drivers and the safety of their cars and passengers. There is no fixed cost, but each believer is expected to pay “as much or as little as they want”.

The Orthodox Church is one of the wealthiest organizations in Romania. It owns around 35,000 hectares of forest and over 40,000 hectares of land, but also hotels, factories, TV and radio stations, and a daily newspaper.

While clerics and believers say the Church uses its financial muscle mainly to educate people and help the poor and needy, others say it is time to end public financing for religious denominations.

There are 18 officially recognised religious denominations in Romania, with the Orthodox and Catholic Churches being the largest. More than 85 per cent of the population of 19.5 million belong to the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The recognised denominations receive around 540 million euro every year from the state. Most of the money is for clerical salaries, but it is also used for building new churches.

Despite its importance to many Romanians, the Orthodox Church has sometimes been accused of corruption and nepotism.

It has also been criticised for its ambivalent stance towards the former Communist regime, as many bishops lauded the former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and supported his policies.