Tbilisi, August 30, 2024
Photo: caucasuswatch.de
The Georgian Orthodox Church already enjoys a special status in the country and isn’t interested in becoming the official state religion, say Church representatives.
Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream has proposed to designate Orthodoxy as the state religion, and top clerics, including the Locum Tenens of the Georgian Church, His Eminence Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsqu, have already met to discuss the proposal.
However, the Church is skeptical of such a proposal, which would put it at risk of being controlled by the state, said Church spokesman Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, reports OC Media.
Speculation regarding this possibility arose from Georgian Dream’s campaign promises to ban LGBT propaganda and protect Georgia’s “national values.”
Synodal member His Eminence Metropolitan Nikolozi of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo and another Church representative, Archpriest Giorgi Zviadadze, also testified that the Church does not support the proposal to become the state religion.
“There is no ground yet to change the legal model that exists today between the state and the Church,” Fr. Giorgi said.
“The Apostolic Church of Georgia, the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, who has immeasurable merit before this country and our Church, unequivocally believes that in the case of declaring a state Church, there are, of course, many risks. It may not be so with the current government, but in general, this implies a certain subordination to the state,” Fr. Giorgi explained.
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