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Thousands Protest Law on Religious Minorities Legal Status
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 10 Jul.'11 / 02:54
Participants of demonstration "in support of the Georgian Orthodox
Church" outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram
Muradov/Civil.ge Thousands of people, led by priests from the Georgian
Orthodox Church, marched in Tbilisi on Saturday evening to protest
against legislative amendments on status of religious minorities in
Georgia.
The demonstration was one of the largest held in Georgia in recent
years.
Participants of the demonstration first gathered outside the Kashveti
Church on Rustaveli Avenue and then marched towards the Holy Trinity
Cathedral, passing outside the presidential palace.
"Expression of our faith and position should be peaceful; that's what
the Church is calling on us - to express what we have to say and to
make the authorities hear what we have to say; let's believe that they
will heed to our calls," senior cleric from the Georgian Orthodox
Church, Mitropolitan Daniel, said while addressing people gathered in
the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, made a brief
address to the gathering in the cathedral and said, quoting the New
Testament: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find."
Participants of demonstration "in support of the Georgian Orthodox
Church" outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram
Muradov/Civil.ge Some priests participating in the demonstration were
saying the fact that the legislative amendment was passed with
"ignorance" of the Georgian Church's position was one of the major
source of concern for them.
Echoing remarks by the Georgian Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Ilia
II, many participants of the July 9 rally were saying that the adopted
amendments were "dangerous" for the Church and for the country in a
whole.
The Georgian Orthodox Church's multiple calls on the authorities not
to hurry with adoption of the legislative amendment went unheeded and
it was passed with three readings in a course of five days with second
and final voting held on July 5. The bill was signed into law by
President Saakashvili on the same day and it went into force next day,
on July 6.
Developments surrounding the legislative amendments, allowing
religious minorities to be registered as legal entities of public law,
marked one of the most serious public confrontations between the
Georgian Church and President Saakashvili's administration.
Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge The
Georgian Orthodox Church and its leader, Ilia II, said for number of
times in recent days that they were not against of granting legal
status to religious minorities. The Georgian Church, however, was
calling for thorough and lengthy discussions over the issue and on the
other hand it was also insisting that such move should only have been
taken if a similar status was granted to the Georgian Orthodox Church
in neighboring countries, in particular the focus was made on Armenia.
Gaining legal status has been long sought by some religious minority
groups. The issue has also long been a source of criticism by the
human rights and international organizations.
In its April, 2011 resolution on the honoring of obligations and
commitments by Georgia, the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of
Europe said it was "concerned by the lack of a proper legal status of,
and legal protection for, denominations and faiths other than the
Georgian Orthodox Church." It called on Georgia to "adopt a specific
law on religion that would offer proper and equal legal status and
protection to all faiths and denominations in the country."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 10 Jul.'11 / 02:54
Participants of demonstration "in support of the Georgian Orthodox
Church" outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram
Muradov/Civil.ge Thousands of people, led by priests from the Georgian
Orthodox Church, marched in Tbilisi on Saturday evening to protest
against legislative amendments on status of religious minorities in
Georgia.
The demonstration was one of the largest held in Georgia in recent
years.
Participants of the demonstration first gathered outside the Kashveti
Church on Rustaveli Avenue and then marched towards the Holy Trinity
Cathedral, passing outside the presidential palace.
"Expression of our faith and position should be peaceful; that's what
the Church is calling on us - to express what we have to say and to
make the authorities hear what we have to say; let's believe that they
will heed to our calls," senior cleric from the Georgian Orthodox
Church, Mitropolitan Daniel, said while addressing people gathered in
the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, made a brief
address to the gathering in the cathedral and said, quoting the New
Testament: "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find."
Participants of demonstration "in support of the Georgian Orthodox
Church" outside the Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram
Muradov/Civil.ge Some priests participating in the demonstration were
saying the fact that the legislative amendment was passed with
"ignorance" of the Georgian Church's position was one of the major
source of concern for them.
Echoing remarks by the Georgian Orthodox Church leader, Patriarch Ilia
II, many participants of the July 9 rally were saying that the adopted
amendments were "dangerous" for the Church and for the country in a
whole.
The Georgian Orthodox Church's multiple calls on the authorities not
to hurry with adoption of the legislative amendment went unheeded and
it was passed with three readings in a course of five days with second
and final voting held on July 5. The bill was signed into law by
President Saakashvili on the same day and it went into force next day,
on July 6.
Developments surrounding the legislative amendments, allowing
religious minorities to be registered as legal entities of public law,
marked one of the most serious public confrontations between the
Georgian Church and President Saakashvili's administration.
Holy Trinity Cathedral, July 9. Photo: Guram Muradov/Civil.ge The
Georgian Orthodox Church and its leader, Ilia II, said for number of
times in recent days that they were not against of granting legal
status to religious minorities. The Georgian Church, however, was
calling for thorough and lengthy discussions over the issue and on the
other hand it was also insisting that such move should only have been
taken if a similar status was granted to the Georgian Orthodox Church
in neighboring countries, in particular the focus was made on Armenia.
Gaining legal status has been long sought by some religious minority
groups. The issue has also long been a source of criticism by the
human rights and international organizations.
In its April, 2011 resolution on the honoring of obligations and
commitments by Georgia, the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of
Europe said it was "concerned by the lack of a proper legal status of,
and legal protection for, denominations and faiths other than the
Georgian Orthodox Church." It called on Georgia to "adopt a specific
law on religion that would offer proper and equal legal status and
protection to all faiths and denominations in the country."
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress