Tbilisi, December 29, 2023
Photo: sakartvelosambebi.ge
A handful of clerics of the Georgian Orthodox Church have burned the flag of the European Union in protest of the nation’s bid to join the international movement.
In this way, they also showed their solidarity with Lasha Sharukhia, who was sentenced to pre-trial detention for taking down and burning the EU flag at Mtskheta City Hall, writes Georgian News.
According to the source, the priests Genadi Gogilashvili and Iakob Mestvirishvili and the deacons Spyridon Tskipurishvili and Basil Akhvlediani are known to have burned the flag.
In one video, Deacon Basil Akhvlediani says that, “for Christians, the flag of the European Union is a symbol of depravity.”
Deacon Sypridon was suspended soon after the video appeared, though a statement from the Patriarchate clarified that it was not because he burned the EU flag, but because he slandered fellow clergy in one of his videos, which the statement notes violates a number of canons.
In the video below, a priest burns the EU flag at the 0:23 mark:
The European Council of the EU granted Georgia candidate status at its session earlier this month. His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II issued a statement welcoming the decision, with the hope that joining the EU will bring political stability to the country.
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.
Follow OrthoChristian on Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!
