NGO: ‘Georgian Orthodox Christians don’t have opportunity to attend services in the language of their choice in occupied territories’
The report of the Democracy Research Institute reads that in the Russia-occupied territories, Georgian believers do not have the opportunity to exercise their faith and cultural rights in the language of their choice, from their church clergymen, in traditional cult buildings. Photo: DRI.
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Georgian believers do not have the opportunity to exercise their faith and cultural rights in the language of their choice, from their church clergymen, in traditional cult buildings, the Democracy Research Institute (DRI) says.
Orthodox Christians living in Russia-occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia are considered by the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church to be subject to its canonical jurisdiction. The above is not formally denied by any Orthodox Churches, however in both political and ecclesiastical circles, the ruling elites of the occupied territories do not imagine their future with either Georgian State or the associated Orthodox Church”, reads the report of DRI.
The report also reads that as a result of such attitudes and Russian influence, the Georgian Orthodox Church has no its clergymen in Tskhinvali/South Ossetia and Abkhazia, cannot manage the property of relics owned by it before the conflict, and cannot provide adequate support to the parishioners that identify themselves with the Georgian Orthodox Church.
In the occupied territories, Georgian believers do not have the opportunity to exercise their faith and cultural rights in the language of their choice, from their church clergymen, in traditional cult buildings”, reads the report.
Apart from Georgian church, there is also an Ossetian church in Akhalgori, which is subordinated to the Diocese of Alanya and where worship is conducted in Ossetian as well. Metropolitan Isaiah is unable to return to Akhalgori. He was not in Akhalgori at the time of the closure of the Mosabruni crossing point, and like everyone else, he has been unable to return to the district.
As for Gali district of Russia-occupied Abkhazia, there are no ethnic Georgian priests. Father Pimen (Roman Kardava) used to serve there in the past, but in 2008, the Abkhaz side banned him from being engaged in religious activity and expelled him from Gali.
Read the full report here.
Georgia’s Russia-occupied municipality of Akhalgori faces a humanitarian crisis, as the area has been completely closed due to the coronavirus pandemic nearly six months and locals are unable to receive their pensions, IPN reports.
The Democracy Research Institute (DRI) reports that the de-facto authorities of South Ossetia have launched a so-called ‘Family Reunification Programme’, which allows ethnic Georgians in the heavily-Georgian district of Akhalgori to relocate to areas controlled by Tbilisi where their family members live.
Inhabitants of the Akhalgori district in eastern Georgia, which is now occupied by Russia, will have to get special passes in order to be able to visit the rest of Georgia.
All cases of human rights violation in Georgia’s occupied regions have been collated into one document for the global community to review.