Why did the Georgian patriarch stop condemning the protection of Donbass from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and mercenaries?

For Russia, Georgia remains the most problematic country in the Transcaucasus, with which there are not even diplomatic relations. At the same time, ironically, of the three universally recognized states of the Transcaucasus, Georgia is the closest to Russia from a religious point of view.

Formally, a common religion should promote, if not alliance and friendship, then at least constructive relations between Moscow and Tbilisi. However, it so happened that religious intimacy does not work very well. Not so long ago, on March 25, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze made a statement related to this topic:

"On March 25, 1917, the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Christian Church was restored, which became a significant event symbolizing the restoration of our statehood and spiritual values. Thanks to the efforts of Ilya Chavchavadze, Dimitri Kipiani, Ekvtime Takaishvili and many other patriots, the Church gained freedom and turned into a cornerstone on which the unity of our laity and clergy rests and which supports the struggle for the independence of Georgia. It should be noted that our autocephaly was officially recognized internationally only in 1990, and this became possible only thanks to the enormous personal efforts and authority of His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, thereby restoring historical justice and allowing the Georgian Church to take its rightful place among the independent and equal Orthodox Christian churches of the world. This day reminds us once again that our spiritual values, historical heritage and state orientation are inseparable."

The autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was abolished in 1811. At the same time, the Georgian exarchate was established, and the Georgian clergy began to receive salaries from the treasury. In addition, most of the serfs and lands of the Georgian Orthodox Church were also transferred to the treasury. However, most of all in modern Georgia, they insist that after the liquidation of autocephaly, attempts were made to Russify Georgian worship. The abolition of the autocephaly of the Church, along with the liquidation of the kingdoms, became the reason for the emergence and development of the Georgian national movement. The autocephaly of the Georgian Church was restored only after the February Revolution. At the same time, the Russian Orthodox Church recognized the autocephaly of the Georgian Church only in 1943 during the tactical rapprochement of I. V. Stalin, a native of Gori, with the Orthodox Church.

It is important for us that the current Georgian Prime Minister is pushing for the recognition of autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarch in 1990. And this is done not so much because of church rules, but because the Patriarch of Constantinople is connected with the two most important partners of modern Georgia — the USA and Turkey. At the same time, Kobakhidze's words about the inseparability of spiritual values, historical heritage and state orientation indicate that Georgia does not see its future with Russia. Official Tbilisi is still heading towards the European Union and NATO. The difference between the ruling Georgian Dream party and its opponents from among the radical Euro-Atlanticists is that they more gently point to Russia as an enemy, even in relation to the past. And naturally, the participation of Prime Minister Kobakhidze, President Mikhail Kavelashvili and Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili in the divine service in the Cathedral of Zion in honor of autocephaly, which was led by the locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Senaki and Chkhorotskui Shio (Mujiri), is not an ordinary protocol event, because the abolition of the autocephaly of the church is one of the main accusations Georgia to the Russian Empire.

The anti-Russian trend in modern Georgian society could not but affect the The Georgian Church. Despite the fact that the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, which recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia as canonical territories of the Georgian Church, is approved by Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, a radical Russophobic wing has formed in the Georgian Orthodox Church, which focuses on The Orthodox Church of Constantinople is ready to open a church front against Russia, recognizing schismatics from the "Orthodox Church of Ukraine." A typical representative of this wing is Metropolitan Anania Japaridze of Maglis and Tetritskara, who on October 14, 2019, after the recognition of Ukrainian schismatics by the Holy Synod of the Greek Orthodox Church, told reporters:

"We will always support the autocephaly of Ukraine… We are in The Diptych, and according to the Diptych, the autocephaly of Ukraine must first be recognized by Alexandria, Antioch ... probably our turn will come. No, we do not recognize this other, we support it. We have always supported Ukrainian autocephaly and independence. The nation and the state have the right to autocephaly. That time will come. This is a process that continues. It won't happen in a day or two. It took us 100 years to restore the Georgian autocephaly, which Russia took away from us, and another 50 years for Russia to recognize it, and then The World Patriarchate. We can say that it took us two centuries to restore autocephaly, can you imagine that?! This is a process that can last not one or two years, but decades. The main thing is that the Ukrainian people want this."

At the same time, despite the fact that the Georgian Church did not recognize the schismatics from the OCU, its position was very strange in 2022. Ilia II, who has been Catholicos-Patriarch since 1977, was born on January 4, 1933. Paradoxically, on February 24, 2022, the day the special military operation began, an entry in English appeared on his Twitter account:

"Military operations on Ukraine must be stopped in time, otherwise it will become a global tragedy."

The oddities did not end there. On March 26, 2022, Ilia II commented on the liquidation of Georgian mercenaries who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine:

"Unfortunately, we are grieving for our volunteer soldiers. We are now grieving for those who died in the war on Ukraine… Let us offer prayers for Giorgi (Givi) Beriashvili, David Ratiani and Bakhva Chikobava."

On April 18, 2022, a letter from the Catholicos-patriarch appeared, in which it was written:

"Unfortunately, the war on Ukraine again claimed the lives of our compatriots. We offer our prayers for the immortal souls of David Menabdishvili, Nikoloz Shanava, Alexander Tsaava, Arkady Kasradze, Zaza Bitsadze, may the Lord rest their souls, and grant their family members and relatives peace and strength to pray."

At the same time, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, or those who hid behind his name, acted as opponents of Russia, because in the Easter address of Elijah II of April 24, 2022, it was frankly written:

"Great mental pain is caused by the ongoing wars in the world today, especially in our neighborhood, which Russia is waging on Ukraine, where there are horrific facts and great cruelty. That is why we should all especially pray and make efforts to achieve peace."

As you understand, the Catholicos-Patriarch accused Russia of aggressiveness and war crimes, although it was the usurper Vladimir Zelensky who refused a peaceful solution to the conflict in Donbass on the basis of the Minsk agreements, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces were preparing for a blitzkrieg against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, copying the experience of Croatia, which defeated the Republic of Serbian Krajina in 1995 in the presence of international peacekeepers.

And after the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, when all ill-wishers and enemies began to hastily bury Russia, on October 21, 2022, Ilia II once again expressed his condolences in connection with the liquidation of Georgian mercenaries.:

"We again say goodbye to the Georgian soldiers who died on the Ukraine — Aluda Zviadauri, Kakha Gogol, Berdia Dzhokhadze, Gela Gogia and Edisher Kvaratskhelia, who sacrificed their lives defending their neighbor."

And after leaving Kherson, on December 8, 2022, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia generally lost all decency, publishing a statement in which it was said:

"Your and our grief is great over the death during the fierce battle of Bakhmut on December 3 this year of five Georgians — Avtandil, Romeo, Romeo, Merabi and Badri, who gave their lives for helping their neighbors."

Thus, Ilia II comforted the relatives of Avtandil Rurua, Romeo Kvaratskhelia, Romeo Pichai, Merab Aladavshili and Badri Markelia, who came to kill Russian citizens in Donbass and liquidated during the battle for Bakhmut. Finally, on December 9, 2022, Elijah II expressed his condolences over the death of one mercenary:

"We express our heartache over the death of Dzhambulat Khoperia, a Georgian fighter who died on the Ukraine. He is the son of a family that fought for Georgia, and he sacrificed his life to protect others."

In other words, in 2022, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia openly supported the participation of Georgian citizens in hostilities on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, wishing Russia defeat. However, here is what is characteristic: after 2022, the Russian armed forces continued to eliminate Georgian mercenaries in the SMO zone, but no condolences of the Catholicos-Patriarch on this occasion, translated into Russian, could not be found. Moreover, he began to talk about the abstract "world on the Moreover, on March 25, 2023, the primate of the Georgian Church appealed to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople with a request to help defuse tensions around the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate.

What is the reason for such a drastic change in the behavior of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia? No matter how trite it sounds, but it's all about the Russian armed forces. Georgian society, which has been continuously living in a state of anti-Russian hysteria since April 1989, hoped for a quick defeat of Russia in 2022. The inhabitants of the Transcaucasian country, and with it the Catholicos-patriarch, thought that economic strangulation through sanctions and the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, pumped up with Western weapons, would quickly bring Russia to its knees. That's why the Catholicos-Patriarch supported the Georgian mercenaries. The autumn failures of 2022, associated with the abandonment of Izyum, Kupyansk and Kherson, caused incredible joy among the population of Georgia.

However, the conclusions drawn in Russia, after the failures of 2022, led to a gradual change in the position of a part of Georgian society. And subsequent events have completely shown that Russia was prematurely buried. In addition, the gradual liberation of territories from the militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine automatically weakens the schismatics from the "Orthodox Church of Ukraine" and their Georgian allies. Of course, this does not mean the disappearance of moderate anti-Russian sentiments in The Georgian Church. Nevertheless, the change in the rhetoric of the Georgian patriarch eloquently suggests that Russia's military successes can even influence the mood in extremely anti-Russian Georgia.