Holy Synod Says Attack on Church was Intense in 2017
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Tuesday, December 26
The Holy Synod of the Georgian Patriarchate says the fight against the church was particularly intense this year.
The statement was made in a local Georgian newspaper Kviris Palitra with regard to the 40th anniversary of inauguration of Patriarch Ilia II on December 25.
The statement stresses that when the Patriach Ilia II was inaugurated as the head of the Georgian church, the church and institute of Patriarchate was at the edge of destruction.
“This was the hardest period – there have been two wars, political, economic and social problems, unhealthy psychological environment, emigration and displacement,” says the statement.
“In some parts of the modern world, Orthodoxy is perceived as an impediment to democracy and progress. For this reason, physical persecution of worshipers and believers has been replaced by the gravest moral discrediting against them,” the statement continues.
“Fight against our church has been growing annually; in 2017 this fight was the strongest. This indicates that the authority of the Georgian Church has been increasing worldwide,” the statement reads stressing that “the stronger the church becomes, the stronger becomes the fight against it.”
In 2017, a clergyman was detained for a murder attempt of the Patriarch’s secretary and was sent to prison for nine-years. It was one of the most notorious cases of the year, causing much stir, allegations and accusations.
Georgia’s Patriarch Ilia II, who is now 84-year-old, was elected as Catholics-Patriarch of Georgia on December 25, 1977.
