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“Some thought the blessing of the family on May 17 was directed against someone, but we have no antagonism; we are worried about Georgia,” His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia said in his homily on Friday, May 17, celebrated as Family Purity Day in Georgia since 2014. “We should think about Georgian families, about the future of Georgia,” the beloved archpastor continued. His homily for the day is published on the site of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Family Purity Day was laun…

(Radio Free Europe, www.rfler.org, 3. Mai 2019) When Georgia's armed forces found Mirian Bezhitadze, he found God. It's not that Bezhitadze is religious. Like thousands of other potential conscripts his age, the 21-year-old is invoking religion to avoid mandatory military service. Bezhitadze used a loophole in the conscription law by registering as a priest at the Church of Biblical Freedom, a self-described "Christian-Evangelical-Protestant" organization founded in 2017. To be ordained, one ha…

Georgia celebrates April 9 as the Day of National Unity, recalling the tragic events of April 9, 1989 that left 21 dead and hundreds wounded and which spurred a movement that led to the Supreme Council of the Republic of Georgia proclaiming its sovereignty and independence from the Soviet Union on April 9, 1991, the second anniversary of the tragedy. The Tbilisi Massacred (also known as the Tbilisi Tragedy and the April 9 Tragedy) refers to the brutal dispersion of an anti-Soviet rally by Sovie…

Am Amtsjubiläum des georgischen Katholikos-Patriarchen Ilia II. (Karekin) ist das beachtliche Wachstum der Georgischen Orthodoxen Kirche betont worden. Am Festgottesdienst in der Swetizchoweli-Kathedrale in der antiken georgischen Hauptstadt Mzcheta nahmen neben den Mitgliedern des Hl. Synods auch die georgische Präsidentin Salome Surabischwili sowie Ministerpräsident Mamuka Bachtadse teil. Bachtadse gratulierte in seiner Rede den orthodoxen Gläubigen zum 41. Jahrestag der Inthronisation des Pa…

On December 27 the session of the Holy Synod was conveyed in the Patriarchate of Georgia. It was presided by His Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos – Patriarch of all Georgia. Amba-Alaverdian Metropolitan David was appointed as the secretary of the session, Georgian Orthodox Church reports. At the beginning the members of the Holy Synod were greeted by the Catholicos-Patriarch of all Georgia. HB Ilia II talked about the difficult ecclesiastical condition created in Ukraine and expressed his concern…

His Holiness Patriarch-Catholicos Ilia II of Georgia, the most beloved and trusted man in the nation, has celebrated his 56th mass Baptism ceremony at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, the site of the Georgian Orthodox Church reports.  More than 700 children became the patriarch’s Godchildren this time around at the mass ceremony celebrated on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul on July 12. His Holiness now has more than 37,200 Godchildren. With the first mass Baptism on January 19, 2008, P…

Die georgische NGO Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) setzt sich für eine rechtliche Klärung der umstrittenen Eigentumsverhältnisse der Tandoyants-Kirche in Tbilisi ein. Die Georgische Orthodoxe Kirche (GOK) und die Armenische Apostolische Kirche (AAK) beanspruchen beide die halbzerfallene Kirche im Zentrum der Hauptstadt. Die Tandoyants-Kirche ist der aktuellste Fall einer ganzen Reihe von Kirchengebäuden, um die sich die beiden Kirchen streiten.

The bill on the cultivation of marijuana in Georgia will be withdrawn, Parliament Chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said after a meeting with His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II. “The main issue discussed with the Patriarch was the issue of the draft law on the cultivation of marijuana. We discussed this issue earlier in our team and decided to withdraw it from Parliament. We have repeatedly said we will not consider this legislation without broad discussion and the achievement of consensus with…

One of Georgia’s most unique spiritual treasures has been closed due to the threat of collapse. The Vanis Kvabebi Monastery cave complex, an historical monument from the 8th century located in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, near the town of Aspindza in southern Georgia, will be closed to tourists for some time, Interfax-Religion reports, with reference to the National Agency for the Cultural Heritage of Georgia. Although there are periodic rockslides at the complex, the corresponding risks ris…