PEACE IN GEORGIA

 2. Historical overview of the church-state relationship in Georgia

The emergence and coalescing of the Georgian nation at the end of antiquity is intertwined with the conversion of the Georgian people to Christianity. The history of its statehood counts almost three-thousand five hundred years, and that of Christianity, two thousand years.

As with their neighbors, the Armenians, this language became a vehicle for the transmission of Holy Scripture, the Divine Liturgy, and other such material as theology, sermons, and hagiography. The Georgian lands came to be defined as those territories on which the divine liturgy was sung in the Georgian tongue.

The Georgian Church has been founded by the Holy Apostles. Their journeys and preaches are scripted in the Georgian Chronicles, also by Greek and Latin authors, for instance Origuene (II-III cc), Bishop Dorotheus of Tire (IV c), Bishop Epiphan of Cyprus (IV c), Nikita of Paphlagon (IX c), Ecumen (X c), etc.

It was in that period, during the reign of King Mirian and Queen Nana (IV century), that Christianity was announced state religion in East Georgia thanks to the efforts of St Nino (Equal-to-the-Apostles). This marked a new stage in the history of the country. The bishop, priests, and deacons sent by the Byzantine Emperor Constantine the Great baptized the people and blessed local clergy. According to Georgian Patriarchate, establishing the Church in early IV century is proved by the presence of Stratophilous, Bishop of Bichvinta, at the First World Ecclesiastic Council in Nicaea.

From early 20’s of IV century the Georgian Church was under jurisdiction of Antiochus Autocephaly Cathedral. Thanks to King Vakhtang Gorgasali’s petition and intercessions the Patriarchate of Antiochus granted autocephaly to Kartli Church and Bishop of Mtskheta was granted the rank of Catholicos in 60-70’s of V century. Church of Western Georgia (Abkhazia) was still under Patriarchate of Constantinople. In IX century there was appointed Catholicos there. In early XI century during the reuniting process of Georgian Kingdom, Catholicos of Mtskheta (Kartli) was granted a rank of Patriarch. Since then the supreme position of the Georgian Church had been titled Catholicos Patriarch of Mtskheta and All Georgia.

For a time in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Georgian people enjoyed a period of independence. For most of its history the Georgian nation had to struggle for survival within various Muslim empires. The phenomenon of Muslim conquerors served to strengthen the connection between Georgian and Christian identities.

In early XII century, King David the Builder, who united the Kingdom of Georgia, established Gelati Monastery and Academy near Kutaisi. It was recognized as a great centre of theology and education and science among the orthodox world at that time. King David the Builder initiated summon of the Great Ecclesiastic Council in Ruis-Urbnisi Diocese in 1103. The Ruis-Urbnisi Ecclesiastic Council revised vital issues of ecclesiastic as well as civil society.

Great many royal reigns are canonized by Georgian Church, with this respecting their excellent examples of patriotic feelings, heroism and Christian humanity. King Archil (VIII c.), King Dimitri II beheaded by Mongol invaders (XIII c.), King Luarsab II killed by Persians (XVII c.), and Queen Ketevan martyred by Persians (XVII), is just incomplete list of Georgian saints.

Some aspects of the restoration of the rights of the Christian population in Jerusalem, which was under the yoke of Moslems in the XIV century, are connected with the name of Giorgi V, the King of Georgia.

After breaking the treaty of protection for the east Georgian kingdom of King Heraclius II (Treaty of Georgievsk, 1783), young Tsar Alexander I took over Georgia in 1800 and abolished the autocephalous status of Georgian church. The last Catholicos patriarch of Georgia, Antoni II (a son of King Heraclius), was "invited" in 1811 to go to St. Petersburg to appear before the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox church where he was detained in the capital and sent into exile at Iaroslavl, in northern Russia, where he died. The Georgian church became merely an exarchate of the Russian church, and the first head of the exarchate, a Georgian metropolitan named Varlam Eristavi, was replaced after six years by a Russian. Even more the tsar ordered to replace the Georgian language used in worship with the Church Slavonic one. Later, Nicholas I issued an statute that all Georgian church paintings were to be covered over by whitewashing them. Thus, invaluable Byzantine frescoes by outstanding medieval masters were either destroyed or severely damaged. Old Georgian icons were replaced by icons painted in the Russian Italianate style of the nineteenth century. The singular and, in the view of musicologists, matchless Georgian "heterophonic" church chant was forbidden and had to be replaced with Russian church music composed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in a Western style for a mixed choir of four or more voices.

There was a religious revival among the Georgian intelligentsia during the Brezhnev era. The church and its Catholicos Ilia II were the first in the Soviet period to allow for national sentiment among its people. For instance, soon after Ilia II became patriarch (1978), there was introduced a special paraklis (the equivalent of the Russian akafist, or series of doxological prayers) for the Georgian nation, with text and music by contemporary Georgian authors. The patriarch and his entourage have worked hardly to spread the Gospel both by intensive preaching and by providing a linguistically updated, modern Georgian version of the Bible, which was finally printed in the days of Gorbachov. In addition, Russian icons have been replaced by contemporary Georgian painters' icons and frescoes, if the medieval ones could not be found or had been removed to state museums.

The most significant step taken by the Georgian church occurred in 1987, when it canonized a new saint, Ilia Chavchavadze - an outstanding poet, writer and politician who was murdered in 1907. The murder, all Georgia is convinced (though it was never proved), was due to machinations of the Bolsheviks. It is important to note that this canonization was the first time to take place in the Soviet Union, one year before the Russian Orthodox church canonized its first saints under Communist rule.

Later in April 9, 1989 important political events took place in the capital of Georgia. Several hundred thousand Georgians came not only from the city of Tbilisi but also from the countryside to express through peaceful demonstration their wish to be rid of the Communist system. The crowd sang Georgian national songs, some of them very old religious hymns. They even danced to show that they meant no violence against the government building. In the side street stood the troops of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, their tanks ready to attack.

Then Patriarch Ilia II came to join the people who addressed the people, telling them that he foresaw a terrible scene of violence due to the surrounding troops, and proposed that the crowd withdraw to the church for sanctuary. The national leaders denied this request. Many in the crowd whistled at the patriarch. Then the patriarch proposed that they kneel down and recite the Lord's Prayer, which the crowd did. After this there was a joint proposal by the patriarch and the national opposition leaders to stand in silence. When the tanks were heard moving, the crowd started singing and dancing and sitting on the ground. At last the attack with sharpened spades and poison gas began, resulting 22 Georgian citizens dead. Hundreds of others were poisoned.

“The religious 'myth-symbol complex' gives the members of the ethnie a sense of destiny which stems from a transcending historical perspective beyond immediate events and vicissitudes. That allows oppressed ethnie sustained by sacral mythomoteurs to entertain hope of a 'status reversal' by which they will be restored to their former state of grace.”

Before and after independence there were some, including the poet Ilia Cavchavadze, who spoke of Georgian national identity in its Christian terms. He, for example, wrote: “Christianity, in addition to the teaching of Christ, means among us the entire Georgian territory, it means k'art'veloba ["Georgian-ness"].

Another representative of this wave of nationalism was Zviad Gamsaxurdia, the first president of independent Georgia. His writings and speeches, both as dissident and as leader of the Georgian nation show a mix of religion and nationalism based upon Georgian antiquity and the rthodox Christianity. Gamsaxurdia and his colleagues have used Ilia Cavchavadze as an icon of national identity. From the title page of his book “Georgia's Spiritual Mission” one can read the following: “The Georgian language is the Lazarus among languages, it is a primordial language, a principal language, even as Lazarus--John was the principal apostle of Jesus Christ, the disciple whom Jesus loved and who was his closest spiritual friend. He, at the same time, was adopted as a son by the Theotokos, just as Georgia is the 'lot' of the Theotokos.”

The phenomenon of 'red clergy' was attacked by Gamsaxurdia and his dissident compatriots as the reason behind gross corruption in the church. Indeed, several unpleasant characters found their way into high positions, especially during the patriarchate of the inept David V. In a 1974 document which appeared under the title, "On the Situation of the Orthodox Church in Georgia," the following accusations were made: “It is true that homosexuality has reached the highest ecclesial ranks (bishops and metropolitans) which, as is known, must observe celibacy (i.e. must not be married). As concerns the common ecclesial ranks -- priest and deacons -- for them it is sufficient to pay a specified sum and to be politically obedient. The secret cult of homosexuality is a completely understandable phenomenon. First, the government is able to keep such people under strict submission and the slightest insubordination to convict and hold them criminally liable. Second, the increasing number of homosexuals among the clergy -- is a remarkable method of discrediting the church, and religion in general.”

In the fall of 1990, parliamentary elections resulted in the coming to power of Gamsaxurdia's "Round Table" coalition. From that time on, through the Spring 1991 presidential elections, and until the beginning of 1992 Gamsaxurdia was the head of state. The newspaper “The Republic of Georgia” became the official organ of government power. Several trends showed the explicit Christian agenda of the government. The newspaper frequently carried front page articles about religious holidays. The following, for example, is from an article about the celebration of Easter:

“All of Georgia observed this year's [Feast of the] Resurrection freely, openly, and in charity, and publicly they prayed on this day for the Christian community. On the 28th of October, by the great grace of Christ, the will of the people was victorious and the republic's newly elected government gave to all the right, without fear, to enter church, to light a candle for the homeland, to pray for it, for the purification of its soul, and for the salvation of the people. Our National Supreme Council sees clearly the harmonious relationship between Christianity and the government and the union of the Church and the people. This year, for the first time, the second day of Easter -- a day for remembering the dead -- was proclaimed a holiday by the National Parliament and this gave us the opportunity to go to the cemeteries for the purpose of remembering the souls of the dead and to pay honor to the deceased.”

All these trends found a certain climax in his inaugural speech of 6 June 1991. Here he speaks of the relation of the Georgian church and the state and of Georgia as the "lot" of the Theotokos. "In Georgia, as in an Orthodox Christian country the union between church and the government is traditional. The living faith of the Georgians has defined in the midst of inimical surroundings the many century existence of the Georgian state. The state, on the other hand, for its part, in every way gave assistance to the apostolic activity of the church." Gamsaxurdia contined: "The rebirth of the Georgian state, the resurrection of its independence, cannot succeed apart from the rebirth of a significant living faith, outside of a moral rebirth. Both Georgia's past and present support this." Some authors, among them Paul Crego in his work “Religion and Nationalism in Georgia” argues that at the end of the speech Gamsaxurdia is not speaking of some general increase in the religious and moral character of the Georgian people but rather the establishment of Orthodoxy as the normative faith of society and some sort of partner with the Georgian state.

Then, after some indication that this does not mean interference in each other's affairs, Gamsaxurdia concluded, "Together with the resurrection of the state's independence Orthodoxy will become the state religion."

In Paul Crego’s work, dedicated to religion and nationalism in Georgia, the author compares Gamsaxurdia’s philosophy with the phenomenon of the Caesars – Diocletian, who believed that the unity of religious cult would be the foundation of a political unified and strong empire.

It is not for no reason that the answer to the question “Are you a Georgian?” can be " No, I am a Muslim”. The declaration of church-state union by Gamsaxurdia is therefore a very sharp definition of who can be Georgian and who can achieve to the full rights as citizens of the Georgian state. The concluding paragraph of Gamsaxurdia’s speach is even more explicitly Christian in its language then in the beginning: “Georgia is the "lot" of the Theotokos. The naming of Georgia as the "lot" of the Theotokos refers to the time of Pentecost in the early church. In an article in the third issue of 1989 of the patriarch's journal Jvari vazisa (Cross of the Grapevine) the explanation is given that Mary and some of the Apostles were speaking Georgian during the events described in the second chapter of the Acts of the Apostles. When the Apostles divided up the world for evangelization, the Virgin Mary drew Georgia's "lot." Being near death, however, her task was passed to Andrew and to Simon the Canaanite. She continued, however, even after her death, to have a special vocation to protect the Christian Georgians… Our history, the foundation of our life, is a struggle for faith, for national independence. This is a martyr's and Christ-given way of goodness, compassion, and love. History has given us the possibility to return to our ancestral path, to confess in faith a free Georgia. May the will of God be fulfilled! Long live free Georgia! May God protect us all!” Gamsaxurdia’s speech can be truly regarded as the masterpiece in using religion in nationalism purposes. Such explicit Christian agenda put forward by Zviad Gamsaxurdia played a crucial role in escalating ethnic and political battles in ethno-religious different Georgia. Still this is not to say that religion is the only motivation for conflicts in Georgia. “Xenophobia, prejudice, imperial intrigue, and greed can be found on all sides and none is based on any sort of religious ideology.”

Following the collapse of communist ideology and the Zviad Gamsakhurdia’s national independence movement, Georgia’s identity crisis resulted in the emergence of two popular convictions that foreshadowed the course of modern events. First, the conviction that Georgia was in need of ‘ethnic purification’ because all recent non-Georgian or ‘foreign’ arrivals living on Georgian land are more loyal to imperial Russia than to Georgia. The second conviction promoted by nationalistic sentiments was the idea of Georgian Orthodoxy as the sole religion for ‘genuine Georgians.’ Although Georgians were not altogether ready to immediately flock back to the Church after long years under the Soviet system, the “masses” tended to perceive conversion from sinners into believers as the sign and spirit of the times. Being religious, not to mention emulating popular new leaders, had become fashionable.

The President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili several times has expressed his attitude towards religion tolerance and the role of Orthodox Church in Georgian history. Once during his speech to the National Movement party he proposed that the country should use King Davit Aghmashenebeli as their example while rebuilding the nation. “An important issue is the involvement of representatives from all ethnic groups in Georgia’s political life. There are just two criteria for someone to be promoted in Georgia – professionalism and loyalty to Georgia…That is why we see modern Georgian history as a continuation of what Davit Aghmashenebeli began,” he said, adding that Davit used to visit mosques, synagogues and churches.

Just Before the last parliamentary elections the Christian Democratic Movement emerged in Georgia. A new political party that advocates a stronger role for the Georgian Orthodox Church was founded by former Imedi TV news chief Giorgi Targamadze and his fellow ex-Imedi journalists. While other opposition parties headed to the street to protest the election results and subsequent failed negotiations with the government, Targamadze and his supporters took up a different theme: the need to declare the Georgian Orthodox Church as Georgia's official religion.

"People feel themselves more defended when the Georgian state was strong and the Orthodox Church had a strong position. This is a Georgian tradition," - Targamadze said in an interview.

To do that, the new party is proposing a constitutional amendment that would "declare complete freedom of belief and religion in Georgia.” The second clause of the amendment clarifies that “Georgia's official religion is Orthodox Christianity as a traditionally recognized religion of Georgian people.” The draft also calls for the state to "protect the Apostle Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia and provide support to strengthen its role in society."

But much as it attracts many, the Christian Democratic Movement's obsessive push on behalf of the Church has also alarmed some Georgians, who allege that the party espouses nationalistic beliefs. Some critics have questioned the reasoning behind the party's quest for an official religion. The Georgian Orthodox Church was already granted a "special status" in the Georgian Constitution, based on a concordat signed by the government and the Church in 2002.

Remembering previous experience by Georgian nationalist movements, one can argue that political parties in today Georgian again have turned to religion to capitalize on the popularity of the Church. "This is not only the disease of this political party, but a sickness of all political parties in Georgia," said Tbilisi State University sociologist Iago Kachachkishvil, referring to political parties' competition over the Church. "They try to use the name and reputation of the Georgian Orthodox Church on behalf of their political image. All political parties just want to show that they are close to the Georgian Church."

“I consider that the constitutional agreement signed between the Church of Georgia and the Georgian Government should become a mutually beneficial background for joint actions for the welfare of the country. This significant document should be timely put in practice if we want to build a democratic state on moral bases.”

 As part of the fight for self-preservation, a large portion of Georgian society tries to prevent the establishment of perceived potential dangers, such as Baptism, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and many other religious associations. Some Georgians believe that the idea of freedom of religion and belief, together with other universally recognized values, contributes to the degeneration of national values. This supposed danger to the nation’s values is most often spoken of by the individuals directly or indirectly opposing the right to freedom of religion or belief. These people have nothing against democracy unless it implies the recognition of, and respect for, the rights of different people united under a different sign. The classical content of democracy, however, includes a recognition and respect for the rights of others and does not allow for selective adherence to democratic values. A truly democratic society cannot accept physically or verbally aggressive treatment of its people on the basis of religion or belief—which has taken place to a great extent over the years in Georgia. From a legal standpoint, these aggressive acts represent a classic case of hate crimes motivated by religious bias, and religious extremism.

The authorities failed to respond adequately and at times even cooperated in the attacks, which consequently became more frequent and pervasive, spreading from Tbilisi to many other regions throughout Georgia. Georgia’s current President, National Security Council Secretary, and Government Ombudsman have effectively advocated for religious freedom and made numerous public speeches and appearances in support of minority religious groups. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Procuracy have also become more active in the protection of religious freedom by pursuing criminal cases against Orthodox extremists who have continued to attack religious minorities.

Nevertheless, the problem of both verbal and physical harassment of the nontraditional minority religious groups remains, while the Georgian Orthodox Church continues to retain its status as the only religious institution with legal status in Georgia. Numerous parliamentarians objected strongly to a report by the ombudsman calling for equal recognition under the law for all religions. The members of Parliament stated that the historical position of the Georgian Orthodox Church justified its privileged position. In the meantime, the Government passed a law enabling religious groups to register, but the unregistered religious groups still are not officially permitted to rent office space, acquire construction rights, import literature, or represent the international church. Furthermore, the Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian Apostolic Church have been unable to secure the return of churches closed or given to the Georgian Orthodox Church during the Soviet period.

The Constitution of Georgia recognizes the special role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the country's history but also stipulates the independence of the church from the state. The relations between the State and the Church are regulated by the Constitutional Agreement of 2002.

There are no laws regarding the registration of religious organizations. Religious groups that perform humanitarian services may be registered as charitable organizations, although religious and other organizations may perform humanitarian services without registration.

During the Soviet era, the Georgian Orthodox Church largely was suppressed, as were many other religious institutions; many churches were destroyed or turned into museums, concert halls, and other secular establishments. As a result of new policies regarding religion implemented by the Soviet Government in the late 1980s, the present Patriarch began deconsecrating churches formerly closed throughout the country. The Church remains very active in the restoration of these religious facilities and lobbies the Government for the return of properties that were held by the Church before the Bolshevik Revolution.

Constitutional Agreement between State of Georgia and Georgian Apostolic Autocephaly Orthodox Church states that “The State and Church hereby confirm their will to collaborate for the population welfare maintaining principle of mutual independence, as well as Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia is inviolable and
Great ecclesiastic holidays and Sundays shall be declared public holidays and days off as a rule. This agreement declares that “ecclesiastics shall be free from draft,
the State in compliance with Church shall provide creation of priest institution at armed forces, prisons, and jails. The State shall adopt proper legal acts.
The State and Church shall be authorized to exercise joint social programs for the population. Educational institutions shall teach orthodox religion upon their choice. Ecclesiastic property and other property accountability shall be protected by law. Church shall have possession of any property being subject to Georgian legislation.
All ecclesiastic goods produced, imported, and delivered by Church, also donations, non-economic property and land premises shall be duty free.
The State in agreement with Church shall issue permissions and licenses on using official ecclesiastic terminology and symbols, also producing, importing and delivering ecclesiastic goods. The State shall recognize orthodox churches, monasteries (acting and non-acting), their remains and land premises they are built on all over Georgia to be in possession of Church.
The State shall recognize ecclesiastic treasure protected by State security (kept at museums and treasury, those except owned privately) to be in possession of Church. The State shall take responsibility to negotiate with other states on protection, care and ownership of all Georgian orthodox churches, monasteries, remains, other ecclesiastic buildings, and ecclesiastic items being on their territories. The State shall acknowledge material and moral damage to Church during loosing state independence in XIX-XX centuries (especially in 1921-1990). Being factual owner of part of bereft property, the State shall take responsibility to partly compensate material damage.”
The status of “legal entity of the public law” was granted to the Orthodox Church of Georgia in the Constitutional Agreement. Under Article 1509 of the Civil Code of Georgia, a legal entity recognized by the Constitutional Agreement is considered a public law legal entity. Thus, since 2002, the legal relationship between the State of Georgia and the Orthodox Church of Georgia has been defined by the Constitutional Agreement, which has no analogy in any other country and “was adopted without consideration of numerous recommendations of local and international experts who identified gaps and contradiction within the text.”

The idea of an agreement between the State and the Orthodox Church of Georgia began in the early 1990s and some authors argue that was probably inspired by the Concordat—an agreement that the Holy See (the Vatican) signed with different states. The form of agreement used by the Vatican could not be replicated, as there was no quasi-state entity representing the Orthodox Church of Georgia. Another possibility was to adapt already existing models of church-state relations in other European countries to Georgia’s situation, but this arrangement also failed to suit Georgia’s needs because the initiators of the agreement wanted to sign an agreement of the same status as the Concordat. In the end, the idea of the Constitutional Agreement was proposed.

A proper analyze of church-state relationship obviously shows the privileges granted to the Orthodox Church of Georgia by the Constitutional Agreement against the relationship of other religious organizations with the State. Khatuna Tsintsadze in her research about Legal Aspects of Church-State Relations in Post-Revolutionary Georgia, revealed the discrimination by the provisions of the Constitutional Agreement that violates not only the general non-discrimination clause of the Constitution of Georgia, but also abridges the requirements of international conventions and other human rights acts.

One indication of a difference in treatment between the Orthodox Church of Georgia and other religious organizations in the Constitutional Agreement is the provision regarding recognition of marriages performed by the Church. The Civil Code of Georgia says that the registration of marriages should be performed by the Civil Acts Registry Agency at the Ministry of Justice, but the Constitutional Agreement provides for State recognition of marriages performed by the Orthodox Church. Although the Civil Code has a specific chapter on marriage, no other specific article provides further explanation or interprets the Constitutional Agreement. Because the Constitutional Agreement supersedes all other laws in Georgia, including the Civil Code, the State’s resulting recognition of Orthodox Church marriages “presents a stark example of disparate treatment among religious organizations in Georgia. If there is the possibility that the State may recognize the marriages performed by the Orthodox Church of Georgia, as in the case described above, it should treat marriages conducted under other religions identically,” - says Khatuna Tsintsadze.

According to the Constitutional Agreement, the State recognizes all Orthodox churches and monasteries (functional and nonfunctional), their ruins, and land upon which they are situated as property of the Church. The State also confirms the fact that material and moral damage was inflicted upon the Church during Georgia’s loss of independence. While it is worth mentioning the extremely positive position of the State toward the Orthodox Church’s property, the State should not forget about property issues with other religious organizations. Within the same historical period, other religious groups sustained damage to their church property, and these groups face additional obstacles in regaining their historical church properties and in building new structures. Further, the State gave many of the churches and other facilities belonging to other religious communities to the Orthodox Church of Georgia.

The Tax Code of Georgia is another legal act that discriminates against religious minorities. Many tax privileges have been envisaged for the Patriarchate of Georgia, yet other religious groups in Georgia do not enjoy these same tax benefits. The Tax Code of Georgia does not mention any other religious groups. The Constitutional Agreement also clarifies the tax exempt status of the Orthodox Church of Georgia.

Based on the Constitutional Agreement, the Orthodox Church of Georgia has the right to staff the Chaplain institution in detention facilities. The procedures and details were later clarified in an agreement concluded between the Ministry of Justice and the Patriarchate of Georgia. According to the later agreement, the Georgian Orthodox Church is entitled to have the law enforcement police of the Ministry of Justice as its representative at all penitentiaries to conduct holy liturgies and other religious ceremonies, whereas representatives of all other religions and confessions can realize such a right only subject to the consent and supervision of the Georgian Orthodox Church. In October 2006, the Penitentiary Department of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia and the Religions Council signed a memorandum concerning the cooperation of these two bodies. The memorandum aimed to fill the above mentioned gap and allow other religious organizations to enter penitentiary establishments.

Though attacks on religious minorities, including violence, verbal harassment, and disruption of services and meetings, continued to decrease, some stories of verbal or physical violence against different religious groups are still being told in Georgia. In May 2007 in Tbilisi, the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili spoke out publicly at a conference in favor of religious tolerance. The President also intervened when a church under construction in Adjara was demolished for lack of proper building permits, ordering resumption of construction. In April 2007 the Georgian Orthodox Church patriarch visited Dubai to demonstrate its support for mutual tolerance and respect between the Georgian Orthodox Church and Islam.

Previously discussed issues certainly gives little ground for remaining calm and serene as the growing tendency to nationalize the Orthodox Church of Georgia still remains strongly rooted in the Georgian politics and more importantly in psyche of the society. This is more important than ever that “Georgia address the legal gaps in church-state relations to further religious freedoms” in order to maintain a safe democratic society.

With this research paper I argue that harmony between church and state is truly possible and history of Georgia proved it. Misusing of those religious values against other religious representatives and in personal political aims is what makes hard for country like Georgia to exceed from transition period into full length democracy. In this long and delicate process of forming church-state relations its worth mentioning Georgia’s culture of self-preservation in the nineteenth century, the period when “language, motherhood, and religion” were key elements for Georgia’s survival. The author of these famous words Ilia Chavchavadze, so frequently quoted by activists for self-preservation, also wrote the following: “There was a time when they thought that if nations of one state praised God otherwise, the unity of this state would suffer and be disrupted. Reformation has proved that the idea is only the product of ignorance; proved that one and the same state could well accommodate various religions and that not a single stone would be taken out from its foundations.”

Religion, church and state relationship issues will always remain crucial in Georgia due to high religious society and therefore politics because politics is nothing but about people. But it’s not the threat, danger lies in another side of it. Looking through Georgia’s past and present, religion nationalism still keeps its hazard and this is what should be avoided.

 Bibliography:

Witness through troubled times: a history of the orthodox church of Georgia, 1811 to the present / with contributions by Zaza Abashidze . London : Bennett & Bloom, 2006. - 271 p.

 The laws of Georgian autocephalous apostolic church. Information at official web site of Georgian Patriarchate, in Georgian. http://www.patriarchate.ge

The constitution of Georgia (at official web site of Ministry of Justice, in Georgian)

Book “Patriarch” written by Catholicos-Patriarch and Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi his Holiness and Beatitude Ilia 2nd. Electronic version of book can be found on official web site of Georgian Patriarchate http://www.patriarchate.ge/book/pdf/eng_summary.pdf

Georgian Autocephaly and the Ethnic Fragmentation of Orthodoxy, Paul Werth, Acta Slavica Iaponica, Tomus 23, pp. 74-100 (online version: http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/23/03_werth.pdf)

The history of Georgia in 8 parts, online version at http://src-h.slav.hokudai.ac.jp/publictn/acta/23/03_werth.pdf (in Georgian)

Religion and Nationalism in Georgia. by Paul Crego (On PDF file with author)

Ivlian Khaindrava, Church in Modern Georgia, Central Asia and Caucasus, Vol. 5(29), 2003, p.27 (in Russian)

The orthodox church / Timothy Ware. - 2. edition. - London : Penguin, 1997. - 358 p. (University Library)

Alexander Schmemann, “A Meaningful Storm,” Church, World, Mission (New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1979) 98-99

“Georgia: Party promotes church as defender”. By Molly Corso for EurasiaNet (15/05/08)

Legal Aspects of Church-State Relations in Post-Revolutionary Georgia. Khatuna Tsintsadze (Executive Director of the Union “Century 21,” a nongovernmental organization in Georgia.) (On PDF file from Author)

Fairy Von Lilienfeld, http://www.angelfire.com/ga/Georgian/history.html

Georgian Daily Newspaper “24 Hours”. February 20th. At official web page: www.24saati.ge (In Georgian)

BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, U.S. DEP’T OF STATE, INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 2006: GEORGIA (2006), http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71381.htm

BUREAU OF DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND LABOR, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM REPORT 2007

The Political Landscape of Georgia, Ghia Nodia & Alvaro Pinto Scholtbach 2006.

Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, OSCE, Combating Hate Crimes in the OSCE Region: An Overview of Statistics, Legislation and National initiatives 2005. available at http://www.osce.org/

Council of Europe, Venice Commission, Comments on the Draft of the Constitutional Agreement Between the State of Georgia and the Orthodox Church of Georgia, CDL Doc. 64 (June 28, 2001), available at http://www.venice.coe.int/docs/;

Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, Civil and Political Rights, Including the Question of Religious Intolerance: Visit to Georgia, delivered to the Economic and Social Council, Commission on Human Rights, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2004/63/Add.1 (Dec. 16, 2003) (prepared by Mr. Abdelfattah Amor).

Robert John Araujo, The International Personality and Sovereignty of the Holy See, 50 CATH. U. L. REV. 291, 337 n.229 (2001).