Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II Meets Georgian Parish in Moscow

MOSCOW, Russia - The Cathilicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, met the Georgian parish living in Russia at a Georgian church in Moscow on Wednesday, where he conducted a service and congratulated Georgians on Saint George’s Day.

After the service, his holiness met with representatives of the local Georgian Diaspora.

Ilia II and his delegation, made up of Akhaltsikhe and Tao-Klarjeti Archbishop Teodore; Zugdidi and Tsaishvili Archbishop Gerasime; Gori and Samtavisi Arhbishop Andria; Archimandrite Davit Chincharauli; Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze; Archpriest Aleksandre Galdava; and nun Aleksandra Iasibashi, arrived in Russia on November 19 in order to take part in various festive events dedicated to Russian Patriarch Kirill's 70th jubilee.

On November 20 the Russian Orthodox Church leader welcomed Georgia’s delegation to the residence of Russia’s Patriarchate, where mutual relations between Georgian and Russian churches were discussed.

Ilia II noted that the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches were very important for both countries and set good examples for political figures regarding relations between the two neighboring states.

“We need each other and we should help each other,” Ilia II told Patriarch Kirill, wishing him peace and prosperity.

Ilia II also sent a letter of congratulations to the Russian Patriarch, in which he underlined that confrontation between neighboring Georgia and Russia was dangerous and could lead to global conflict.

The head of Georgian Church also raised the problem of the eparchy of Georgia’s breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia, asking for recognition of the jurisdiction of the Georgian Church in these regions.

“We are not politicians and cannot make serious steps in politics, but we can have some influence on the process,” Ilia said in the letter to the Russian Patriarch.

Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II and his delegation will return to Georgia on November 25.

By Thea Morrison

Photo: Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II. Source: fortuna.ge