Georgian Patriarch Condemns Russia’s War during Orthodox Easter Epistle
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Tuesday, April 26, 2022
Georgia celebrated Orthodox Easter on 24th of April. Prior to the Paschal Vigil, just before midnight, the Easter message of Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II, 89 was delivered by a senior Orthodox cleric in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.
“The ongoing wars in the world today are the cause of grief, particularly the one in our neighborhood which Russia is waging in Ukraine, where horrible facts and the worst of atrocities are taking place. That is why we all owe a special prayer and effort for peace.”
The epistle, among other issues, followed that the wars are tragedy, as they “take the lives of thousands of people, violate all laws, morals, values, bring destruction and material-cultural damage, sow cruelty and widespread hatred, which, of course, creates a very difficult spiritual situation.”
“The current situation is such that no one can tell what tomorrow will bring and how events will unfold; processes may end soon, or turn into long-running confrontation, or we may all face a global catastrophe,which naturally raises universal fears,” emphasizing that in this situation, it is important and necessary to show compassion and kindness to the victims of war (the wounded, the captives, the hungry, the children, the women, the elderly, the sick, and so on) to overcome evil.
The Easter epistle read that while human beings need to wage ‘inevitable war’ on themselves to overcome ‘egoistic mindset’, “most people are not waging wars on themselves, but against neighbors, trying to achieve their egoistic goals through greed and confrontation.”
“But let us not forget that out of the most difficult circumstances the Lord has repeatedly opened mankind; The most important thing is not to lose human dignity even in the most difficult situation, not to lose faith and love for the Creator,” the epistle said.
Recall that Russia's military has shown no signs of stopping during the Orthodox Easter weekend in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government announced new curfews for Easter weekend as authorities cautioned residents about the potential for increased Russian military activity during holiday celebrations. Russian missile strikes hit the southwestern port city of Odessa, according to a senior Ukrainian official 5 civilians, among them an infant died and 18 were wounded. A city council deputy called the strikes ‘Easter gifts from Putin’.
