Constitutional Court: Orthodox Church Should Not Be Granted State Property Alone

The Constitutional Court of Georgia said that granting state property only to the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) is unconstitutional.

A complaint in the Constitutional Court of Georgia was filed by various religious organizations, including the LEPL Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, Church of the Life Word of Georgia, LEPL Christ's Church, Gospel faith Church of Georgia, Caucasus Apostolic Administration of Latin Catholics, and the Union of Georgian Muslims.

The Constitutional Court of Georgia also said that the article on construction, restoration and painting of cathedrals and churches at the order of the Patriarchate of Georgia being exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT) is also illegal. 

According to the Court, the unconstitutional norm should be declared invalid by December 31, 2018, and the discussion of such an issue is the responsibility of the parliament.

While declaring the decision, the court stated that the fact the Orthodox Church has a special historic merit and role in the country does not mean it should be privileged.

“Furthermore, granting certain privileges to the Orthodox Church does not mean the other religious organizations should be prevented from using the same opportunities," the court noted.

Last August the United States (US) Department of State issued the International Religious Freedom Report for 2016, which said that the Orthodox Church is privileged in Georgia.

The report said that the GOC was privileged in Georgia in terms of funding from the state budget.

“The government distributed GEL 25 million ($9.4 million) to the GOC in compensation for ‘the material and moral damages’ inflicted upon it during the Soviet period. In accordance with a 2014 resolution by parliament allowing the government to compensate Islamic, Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Armenian Apostolic religious organizations registered as LEPLs, the State Agency on Religious Issues (SARI) disbursed compensation funds totaling GEL 4.5 million ($1.7 million) to those four religious groups,” the report says.

The Georgian population is around 3.7 million people. The 2014 census reads that Georgian Orthodox Christians constitute 83.4% of the population, followed by Muslims at 10.7% and members of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) at 2.9%. According to the census, Roman Catholics, Kurdish Yezidis, Greek Orthodox, Jews, growing numbers of “non-traditional” religious groups such as Baptists, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, and the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKON), and people who profess no religious preference, constitute the remaining 3% of the Georgian population.

However, the results of the public opinion survey published by NGO Transparency International (TI) Georgia in May 2018, showed that the attitude of Georgians towards the Orthodox Church has worsened in recent years. 

48% of the respondents stated that their attitude towards the Patriarchate has changed negatively, while it has changed positively for 28% and has not changed at all for 16% of the respondents. 

Moreover, 40% believe that internal events of the Church should be subject to public discussions. 52% disagreed. 

61% think that the Patriarchate should be financed from the state budget and 30% is against funding from the state budget for the Patriarchate. 

However, the most trusted institution was still the Georgian Orthodox Church (53%).

By Thea Morrison

Related story:

US Department of State Report Says Orthodox Church Is Privileged in Georgia