Georgian Church celebrates 105th anniversary of restoration of autocephaly

Tbilisi, March 29, 2022

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The Georgian Orthodox Church marked the 105th anniversary of the restoration of its autocephaly on Friday, March 25. Both Church and state figures praised the role of the Church in the fruitful development of the Georgian nation.

The main service was celebrated at Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral by His Eminence Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsqu, who was announced as the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal throne in 2017, meaning he will govern the Church in the event of the death of the patriarch, his abdication from the patriarchal throne, or other circumstances that render the patriarch unable to fulfill his duties.

In his homily, Met. Shio recounted how the Church initially received autocephaly from the Church of Antioch in the 5th century, which had a great impact on the Georgian soul.

“It can be said that all our thinking, writing, literature, poetry, fine arts, architecture, and music are based on Christianity, based on Orthodoxy, and it’s especially important that we had and still have an independent Church, which has led to even more. It was and is the main shield, the main shield and defender of our nation,” His Eminence reflected.

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This independence lasted until the 19th century, when Georgia became part of the Russian Empire both politically and religiously, Met. Shio recalled. However, the Georgian people never reconciled themselves to this situation, he continues, and so a movement for the restoration of autocephaly began, culminating in the announcement of March 12/25, 1917 in Svetitskhoveli Church in the ancient capital of Mtskheta. A council in September elected the Georgian Church’s first new patriarch.

This autocephaly was recognized by the Moscow Patriarchate in 1943, and by Constantinople in 1990.

“Here, in such a difficult time, the only salvation for us, as always, is our faith,” Met. Shio exhorted.

Following the service, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also spoke, extolling the Church’s vital role in the development of the Georgian nation:

We all know well that the Orthodox Church of Georgia has always conveyed and passed the key values related to our statehood, Georgian culture and faith from one generation to another throughout the history of the Georgian nation. It was and always will be the basis of Georgian essence, Georgian identity. It may be said without exaggeration that the role of the Georgian Orthodox Church has and will always be vital for the development of our nation. It should be said straight that orthodoxy is linked with Georgian identity and culture in the perception of every Georgian.

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3/29/2022

See also
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The issue was raised at the session of the Georgian Holy Synod last week and it was resolved that a Synodal commission will study the matter more thoroughly. Group of Georgian theologians working to create conflict between Georgian and Russian Churches Group of Georgian theologians working to create conflict between Georgian and Russian Churches Group of Georgian theologians working to create conflict between Georgian and Russian Churches Group of Georgian theologians working to create conflict between Georgian and Russian Churches
A group of so-called “experts” has claimed that the Russian Church wants to overthrow His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II. Georgian bishops will not vote to recognize schismatics, says Georgian theologian, despite OCU claims Georgian bishops will not vote to recognize schismatics, says Georgian theologian, despite OCU claims Georgian bishops will not vote to recognize schismatics, says Georgian theologian, despite OCU claims Georgian bishops will not vote to recognize schismatics, says Georgian theologian, despite OCU claims
According to theologian Mamuka Putkaradze, the Georgian Church makes decisions by consensus, and such a consensus does not exist among the hierarchs.
Comments
Rdr Daniel3/31/2022 8:30 pm
If Moscow is so concerned with the cannon's why did it allow the uncanonical suppression of Georgia's autocephaly by the Russian state? Why does Constantinople claim to have authority to unanimously grant autocephaly when it didn't even live up to its canonical role of supporting a canonical church under suppression and didn't recognize it it's restoring autocephaly for 50 years after the fact?
Rdr Daniel3/31/2022 8:26 pm
@ Dionysius Redington. I take your point but in terms of Georgia, having been Christian long before the Russians, it was already an autocephalous Orthodox church for centuries before it was uncanonically subjected to the Russian state (the Patriarchate had already been abolished). Regardless of the actions of the Russians (which also included suppressing the language and culture of the far more venerable Georgians and almost emptying their churches through slavicization) the Georgian church should have had its autocephaly restored, even if the Russian church had treated Georgia well it had no right being there. Kiev as the mother of Russian cities and the original see of Rus (before it was transferred to Moscow due to the Mongols leveling Kiev) is a different case. But maybe they do now need Autocephaly given Moscow's support for the invasion, or at least maybe it is now a necessary concession to the weakness of the people given they have had their nation invaded. At any rate it needs to be done in a canonical manner.
Dionysius Redington3/29/2022 9:33 pm
In an age of nation states (and hardly a peaceful age) autocephaly is a practical necessity. However, this is really a concession to human weakness. The Georgian church benefits from autocephaly primarily because the earthly hierarchy of the Russian church (like that of all autocephalous churches) frequently falls into the sin of nationalism. When conflicts between Russia and Georgia arose in the imperial and early Soviet eras, the Russian church had a natural tendency to take the Russian side automatically, putting Georgian believers in a difficult situation: hence, the importance of autocephaly. The same situation obviously now exists in Ukraine. However, this is a concession to human weakness: on the one hand, the Russian church does not always put Russia before Christ; on the other, the Georgian and Ukrainian churches, if they put nation before Christ, are no improvement. In an ideal world, there would be only one Orthodox church worldwide, with different local customs reflecting God's blessing of human diversity. Unfortunately, in the real world we see nationalistic autocephalous churches and papist pretensions to rule over the universal one--sometimes both at once. --Dionysius Redington
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