Open Letter to the Patriarchate of Georgia
On the 6th of December, the Church of Georgia commemorates the martyred Archimandrite Grigol Peradze (†1942). Troparion of the day says: “You gave up your soul for a stranger”. The collective memory of the Church holds dear those who sacrificed their own lives for others. Grigol Peradze is among them. His road to martyrdom began when he was not able to return home to Soviet Georgia (1921) and was forced to carry his love for his homeland in his heart as an exile. He transformed that love into intellectual activities, into scholarly writings on the Georgian church history and theology. Saint Grigol is a modern figure, dear to many because he looks as if he were our contemporary. (I will not smear St. Grigol’s memory by detailing here about the Russian state and the Russian Orthodox Church of our time being true heirs of the Soviet regime.)
Today the Church of Georgia will likely preach about St. Grigol. That sermon will also refer to the ongoing crisis in the country, trying to link the current calamity with St. Grigol’s memory. St. Grigol, according to the oral tradition, sacrificed his life for a stranger, stepping into the gas chamber at Auschwitz in the place of another prisoner, because he saw a brother in every human being created in the image and likeness of God.
In my view, however, it will be difficult to speak from the pulpit about a life sacrificed for a stranger-brother when today the Church reacts to the ongoing crisis only by expressing its ‘concern’. We are, of course, grateful to individual priests and hierarchs who raise their voice against the persecution of peaceful demonstrators, demonstrators who are arrested, beaten, injured, tortured and insulted. But where are You, the Church? Where is the Patriarchate as a whole body? Instead of sending ambiguous messages from the pulpit, go out into the streets, stand by your people, protect them, prevent violence directed at people united by love for their homeland.
The protests began on 28 November, when the illegitimate government announced suspension of negotiations with the European Union. The 78th article of the Constitution reflects the majority’s wish to join the EU that implies saying “NO!” to Russia. Yet every message from the Patriarchate’s officials is directed at discrediting the President, a leader who stands with the people defending their European future. Just yesterday she was interviewed by a journalist from the state-sponsored television channel who asked her questions based on the same suspicions that the Patriarchate speaks of.
Despite the scandal of a rigged election, officials from the Patriarchate still attended the opening of Parliament. Instead of sitting in the Parliament, the Church and its leaders must be taking care of their own flock.
Church of Georgia, go out to the streets!