Patriarch Ilia on Georgia receiving EU candidate status

Tbilisi, December 18, 2023

Photo: patriarchate.ge Photo: patriarchate.ge     

The European Council of the European Union resolved at its December 14-15 session to grant candidate status to the country of Georgia.

The decision stipulates that the country take “the relevant steps set out in the Commission recommendation of 8 November 2023,” when the Council identified a number of problem areas to be addressed.

His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II issued a statement on December 15, saying: “Today is a special day” because receiving EU candidate status “opens up new opportunities” in a variety of fields.

His statement reads:

Photo: patriarchate.ge Photo: patriarchate.ge     

At the same time, the Georgian Church has also resisted certain initiatives coming from the EU. For instance, in 2014, the Church came out against so-called anti-discrimination legislation that provided for punishment for insulting sexual minorities. The adoption of the bill was set as a precondition by the EU for signing an association agreement.

However, the Church was categorically opposed to the bill. Pat. Ilia said it “would mark the recognition of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and its propaganda at the legislative level.”

In 2020, another hierarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony of Vani and Bagdati warned that the country needs to seriously rethink its pro-Western orientation, saying the U.S. and various EU states actively fund institutions that sow hatred against the Orthodox Church and promote the LGBT agenda.

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12/18/2023

See also
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