Georgia’s ruling party has proposed Orthodox Christianity be designated the country’s state religion, Andria Jagmaidze, a spokesperson for the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church said on Wednesday.
While Jagmaidze said that the measure proposed by the controversial Georgian Dream party required further deliberation, he praised the government for what he called its commitment to protecting “national values and traditions”, as well as for pursuing a “policy of peace”.
Nevertheless, several high-ranking figures within the church have voiced their opposition to the plan, including Archbishop Zenon Iarajuli, who called the proposal a mistake, arguing that it would imply “the institutional subordination of the church to the authorities”, and stressing the importance of an independent church “during a crisis created by the state”.
Nikoloz Pachuashvili, a member of the Holy Synod, the church’s ruling body, told Georgian media outlet Formula that the church was happy with the special status accorded to it by a 2002 constitutional amendment, and warned that making Orthodox Christianity the state religion posed “significant threats”.
The billionaire founder of Georgian Dream Bidzina Ivanishvili, whose party has promised to pass legislation which bans “LGBT propaganda” and to “strengthen family values” if it retains its majority in parliament in national elections on 26 October, is likely the driving force behind the proposal, according to Formula.