On November 29, the Patriarchate of Georgia issued a statement emphasizing that the Church witnessed the events on Rustaveli Street on the morning of November 29 with “heartache and concern” and calling on both authorities and society to respect each other’s “differing political views” and refrain from violence, in keeping with Christian values.
The Patriarchate said that the declarations that Georgia would not turn away from the European path were not “considered sufficient or convincing” for “a part of the Georgian society” and that peaceful protest “slowly escalated into a physical confrontation between representatives of law enforcement agencies and protest participants.”
The statement draws an equivalence between the protesters who, it says, were seen “attacking police, trying to break into buildings and damaging infrastructure” and the “aggressive actions by law enforcement officials. They physically assaulted demonstrators, people of different ages, including journalists, whose primary duty is to document the facts and disseminate objective information.”
“In recent years, this picture has not changed. A painful scenario periodically unfolds before our eyes,” the statement reads, lamenting “categorical non-acceptance of each other by people and political parties, radical attitudes due to different opinions and positions, aggression and disagreement have become commonplace.”
The Patriarchate notes that the Georgian Orthodox Church of Georgia “always calls for restraint and mutual respect, and continues to call on people regardless of their differences of opinion, political views.”
The Patriarchate calls on both the authorities and the members of society who are actively expressing their protest to “refrain from aggression and abusive behavior, physical and verbal confrontation,” It urges “not to hurt each other because of different opinions and views and to be able to express our positions in a more civilized manner.”
The Georgian Orthodox Church endorsed the ruling party’s policy before the October 26 vote, while Patriarch Ilia II congratulated the Georgian Dream with “overwhelming election victory.”