The Catholic church has been present in Georgia since the third century. It has suffered the trials and tribulations of Georgian national history, particularly during the Soviet era. What's the situation today?

The advent of the USSR signalled an official halt to ecclesiastical activities. However, in Tbilisi, Saint Peter and Saint Paul’s church remained open.
Before the communist period, Georgia numbered 90,000 to 100,000 Catholics. But after 70 years of an atheist Soviet system, the contact with Georgian Catholics in the cities greatly decreased in the towns, but was easier to re-establish in the villages. This erosion was partly due to the insufficient number of Georgian priests within the Catholic church. In point of fact, there is only one Georgian priest in Georgia, the others are Poles and Italians who are translating the Roman liturgy into the Georgian language.
Georgia’s Catholic community is today divided into three rites: Roman Catholics, Armenians and Assyrians. They are concentrated in Djavakhetia, in the south, but there are also significant communities in Batumi, Kutaisi and Tbilisi.


Should Catholics fear being taken over by the Orthodox church which is in the majority in Georgia?

This problem mainly concerns the Georgian Roman Catholic community. The Armenian Catholic churches, principally located in Djavakhetia, have conserved their function. Regarding the Assyro-Chaldean Catholic church, it is located in a Roman church in Tbilisi.
Georgian Catholics ask themselves how it is possible in this post-revolutionary environment where everyone talks about democracy and freedom, that their churches remain closed or are taken over by the Orthodox branch. Some of the churches have literally become Orthodox cathedrals, as in Gori, Batumi and Kutaisi. One mustn’t forget the destruction of the interior of a Catholic church in Gori, aimed at erasing all signs of Catholicism. This church was over two centuries old. Georgian citizens of Catholic persuasion do not understand why their rights are not recognised at the same level as those of other Georgian citizens of the Orthodox persuasion.


Radical groups have been identified in Georgia. What has been the attitude of the new leaders faced with religious fanaticism?

A priest is currently in prison for having founded a group of fanatics. Following the Revolution of the Roses, he was excommunicated by the orthodox church. Although very active, he had never been detained by the authorities before the rise to power of Mikheil Saakashvili. There were groups of this sort all over Georgia.
One can say that the new political team never really supported religious or pseudo-religious extremism. In that respect, it has intervened in such a fashion that today one can’t really talk about religious fanaticism in Georgia.
Tiny groups continue to vandalize churches or create problems for religious minority communities, especially new denominations like the Baptists, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Mormons or Hare Krishna. But the phenomenon is not as widespread as it used to be.


What are the major problems facing the Georgian Catholic church?

During the communist era, there was a very good relationship between the Orthodox and Catholic churches. With the independence of Georgia came the question of Georgian identity. Georgians had to face major economic problems whilst falling back on an exacerbated form of nationalism in order to underline their own identity.
The problem with elaborating a national and religious concept which is not chauvinistic and which at the same time stays true to its Georgian cultural roots was thus compounded during the presidency of Zviad Gamsakhourdia, first Georgian president after the fall of the USSR.

First came the property issues. The Catholic churches which had been closed during the communist era were taken over by the Orthodox believers. They started to celebrate their rites there. This phenomenon could mainly be observed outside of Tbilisi and it is still ongoing. As of now, no solution has been found.

The cause can be traced to the total absence of legislation regarding religion in Georgia. This problem has not only concerned religious minorities but equally Georgian orthodoxy. Only two years ago, the Orthodox church came to a constitutional agreement with the State to grant it a precise legal status. The legal status of other religious minorities, especially that of Armenians, Muslims, Jews and Catholics should now be addressed.


Yet these minorities have led negotiations to fill this legal void…

For years, there has been talk of drawing up a law on religion which still doesn’t exist. On the contrary, the authorities did not have recourse to the law preferring to register minority communities by slightly amending the Civil code.
Two months ago, they proposed registering these communities as subjects of private and not public law. Some communities accepted this proposal, others didn’t. These legal amendments bring nothing new but public opinion is now convinced that it is possible to register these communities.

However, the discussion remains: religion must find its place in contemporary Georgian society. In order to achieve this, one must understand what religion is per se as well as its relationship to the law. This is a completely new subject because up till now the only concept of religion which existed was that of the atheist Marxist State.
It is equally difficult to find adequate counterparts who are able to discuss the issue. Eighteen months ago, we tried to come to sign an agreement between the Holy See and Georgia to enable the registration of the Catholic community. Tbilisi had invited the Vatican’s Secretary of State to sign the agreement. But one day before the signature, they reneged under pressure from youths who had taken to the streets.


Who is rejecting these advances?

In Georgia there is no distinct separation between the Church and the State as there is in Europe. Some say that the Georgians do not want such a separation, but it’s difficult to know exactly where these refusals are coming from.

As for the Patriarchy, it has said that it is in favour of legal registration for traditional churches, but this was in a pastoral letter dating from last Christmas. We never know with whom we should be negotiating and any dialogue is characterised by long periods of silence.
Reaching a solution to the problem is therefore suffering more from the silence of the authorities than from any outright rejection of a dialogue. The lack of registration for the Catholic Church, which does not therefore exist as a legal entity, implies that its structure is not recognised. And as the bishop is currently considered a private citizen, the property of the church is registered in the name of priests and private individuals. The Church in itself does not exist. However, Georgia was the subject of a very specific recommendation of the Council of Europe in the 1990s.


As the problem has not been resolved, what has the Council of Europe been doing?

Nothing. It continued to make recommendations, but then virtually forgot all about it. Perhaps this was due to a lack of information on the current situation. As they have not seen any public demonstrations of violence, these institutions think everything has been settled.
Contact between religious minority communities and the Georgian State also remains rare. With the exception of the Ombudsman {who defends citizens’ rights before public authorities, Editor’s note}, who is attempting to work on this issue, it seems as though the government does not consider it a priority.
However, the problem is becoming more and more acute with the Armenians. In their case, this is not only a problem concerning four or five churches, but an ethnic issue. There are many Armenians in Georgia and this issue touches on a very sensitive point within their community.


Does the Georgian Orthodox Church have the same relationships with all the other religious groups?

Tolerance in Georgia towards other religions is widespread. I have not noticed any violence towards other ‘traditional’ religions. In Tbilisi, there are Armenian, Protestant and Catholic churches, synagogues and a mosque. This clearly indicates a substantial level of tolerance.

As for the priests in the Russian Orthodox Church who are under the authority of the Georgian Patriarchy, relations are good. The same is true of the relationship between the Greek and Georgian Orthodox Churches. On the other hand, the Georgian Orthodox Church considers Protestantism a non-traditional religion. Furthermore, reformed churches are accused of proselytising, which is practised neither by Catholics nor the Armenian Church, the latter being a national church.

Relations with sects are more strained, this is a widespread problem across the whole of the South Caucasus.
Some groups quote the example of the United States where there is no legal difference between so-called traditional religions and sects. There, all religious entities fall within private law, as opposed to Georgia where one church alone falls under public law and benefits from a highly elevated status, while other religious groups do not officially exist in the eyes of the law.


Perhaps your demands greatly alarm Tbilsi?

I do not believe that there is a religious minority group in Georgia that is demanding the same privileges as the Georgian Orthodox Church. However a legal solution must be found, in order particularly to resolve taxation issues. Taxes on humanitarian aid that is targeted at the poorest are huge, up to 37% in some cases.

While the Georgian State requests these funds, you then have to pay back considerable amounts. But as long as we have neither the legal status of a church nor that of a private individual, the problems will continue to exist. If the situation does not become clearer then we will consider taking the necessary diplomatic steps. This should not been seen as threats or blackmail, but simply as a desire to resolve the situation through communication. I remain convinced that it will all work out for the best.