Georgian Patriarch’s Christmas epistle: people are overwhelmed by negative information, lockdowns, death

The Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II delivered his annual Christmas epistle ahead of Christmas mass last night at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, in which he said that people are overwhelmed by constant negative information, lockdowns and death due to the pandemic. 

The Patriarch called on the nation ‘not to give in to despair or be afraid,’ despite the fact that ‘the sacrifice is great and caution is paramount’ due to the global coronavirus pandemic. 

We must be strengthened by the belief that death does not mean the cessation of existence because the human soul is immortal,” Patriarch Ilia II said. 

He addressed the Georgians abroad and residents of Georgia’s occupied regions, asking them to ‘live for each other and for the homeland.’

• Georgia celebrates Christmas today

The Christmas epistle also reads that in order to get closer to God ‘education and scientific progress alone cannot help us,’ noting that it is also necessary to attain spiritual purity.

In the field of technology, in the modern world, amazing progress has already been made, although many serious challenges have emerged, which make us think that we, as part of the common space on earth, will either improve our lives or face invincible obstacles,” Illia II says.

At the beginning of the epistle, Patriarch Ilia II recounted the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, spoke of the meaning of life and death, and stressed the importance of spirituality.