Catholicos Patriarch's New Year message

Catholicos Patriarch of all Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, and Metropolitan of Abkhazeti and Bichvinta, has wishedaHappy New Year to all in hiscongratulation message.

"We have passed a long way but I think that our future is bright and hopeful. Georgia should choose a golden way [and] Id say the whole Caucasus should choose a golden way.

"Transcaucasia is not a place of confrontation and resistance, it should become an arena for cooperation and understanding, said his Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II.

"I congratulate the New Year to the whole of Georgia with all my heart. Congratulations to Georgians, Abkhazians, Ossetians, Greeks, Russians and to everyone who lives in this country.

Catholicos Patriarchespecially congratulated people with health problems, whether they were at home or in hospitals.

He also congratulated prisoners and the poor, and wished their hardships and grief would change into happiness.