Georgian Orthodox Church: Russian counterpart's plans for opening Georgian parish in Paris "unacceptable"
The Georgian Orthodox Church called reported plans by its Russian counterpart body for opening a Georgian parish in Paris "completely unacceptable". Photo via Patriarchate of Georgia.
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The Georgian Orthodox Church has called "unacceptable" plans of the Patriarchate of Moscow to launch a Georgian parish in Paris under its wings, with a letter outlining the Georgian religious organisation's position on the subject released on Wednesday.
Metropolitan bishop Gerasime, serving as the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Section at the Patriarchate of Georgia, signs the letter addressed to Archbishop Jean of Dubna, Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe, to express the concern, after earlier reports indicated the latter body planned to open a Georgian parish in the French capital.
In the official correspondence, the Georgian church's bishop notifies the head of the Russian organisation's head about a functioning Georgian church and parish in Paris, in operation since 2009 and led by archimandrite Anton.
The letter stresses the plans for launching the parish by the Russian church as "completely unacceptable" and expresses hope about a "timely" resolution of the "misunderstanding" between the two official bodies.
Reports about the Russian Orthodox Church's plans for launching a Georgian parish in Paris appeared in social media earlier in the week.
The Georgian Orthodox Church sees signs of a ‘threat’ in an interview given by the Chairman of the Department of External Relations of the Russian Patriarchate Metropolitan Hilarion, says the statement of the Georgian Patriarchate released today.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani told journalists today that Georgia is happy about each step which strengthens the statehood of Ukraine, its independence and sovereignty.
The Georgian Patriarchate said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent explanation of how Georgia “engulfed” the currently Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions “has caused a negative reaction among our people”. "Such distortion of historic facts continues to deepen the existing conflicts”, the Patriarchate said.
Georgia’s Patriarch Ilia II will depart for Russia shortly after the first session of the country’s new Parliament, expected to be held on November 18.