Republican Party Demands Revision of Orthodox Church Funding

The Republicans, a non-parliamentary opposition party, are calling on the Government of Georgia to revise the funding of the Orthodox Church.

The Georgian Orthodox Church annually receives 25 million GEL from the state budget.

The initiative came after the recent church scandal, when clergyman Giorgi Mamaladze was detained for allegedly planning to murder an un-named high-rank cleric.

According to an unofficial source, Mamaladze, a deputy head of the Patriarchate’s Property Management Agency, was actually detained because he had knowledge of a range of violations within the Patriarchate.

Republicans, Khatuna Samnidze and Tamar Kordzaia, at a press-conference on Wednesday claimed that the constitutional agreement based on which the Georgian Orthodox Church receives several million GEL annually, is being violated due to unnecessary expenditures.

The Party members also claim that property both in Tbilisi and the regions is being handed over to the Church, bypassing all procedures and without any revision.

“We believe that in this situation the Church and State should be distanced, and the current financing policy of the Orthodox Church should be suspended,” Samnidze said.

Kordzaia said that the current developments surrounding the church leave the impression that a number of clergyman and governmental officials are involved in cases of corruption and have joint businesses.

“The Church has already received more than 200 million GEL, and the Patriarchate has received more than 1 million hectares of land. We, the Republicans, believe that the funding policy should be reviewed,” she said.

The ruling party, Georgian Dream (GD), does not approve of the position of the Republicans.

Vice-Speaker Gia Volsky says that the Church plays an important role in the development of society, and it is not correct to link it with politics.

“We should disregard speculation that the Church serves political forces. The Church serves the State,” he claimed.

Parliamentary opposition parties believe that the financial relationship between the Church and the State should have some frames.

“Transparency in this relationship is necessary. The lack of transparency in the current system created the problems we have today,” said Sergi Kapanadze, member of the Movement for Freedom-European Georgia.

Another opposition party, United National Movement (UNM), also believes that the relationship between the church and the state is “not healthy”.

“The government interferes with the activities of the Church in various ways,” member of the UNM, Roman Gotsiridze, said.

The Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) believes that by granting real estate or a large number of funds to the Patriarchate, officials aim to secure their loyalty and support. They add that currently the Patriarchate’s real estate is 36 times greater than that of the Vatican.

Thea Morrison

Source: timer.ge