Message of His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, Addressed to the Participants of the Georgia’s State Agency for Religious Issues Annual Report |
Honorable state officials, public figures, spiritual brothers, dear brothers and sisters, let me greet you on behalf of the clergy and the faithful of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia; we raise our prayers to God for your good health, longevity, peace and salvation. The establishment of the State Agency for Religious Issues in 2014 has played a big role in outlining ways to deal with the issues, which have accumulated in religious organization in Georgia. Government has made a significant step in integration into the European family, as new Georgian authorities attend to the religious entities issues and devote particular attention to them. The Georgian state expressed its readiness to return mosques to Muslims, synagogues – to the Jewish community, houses of worship - to the Christian communities. Through the allocated government funds for compensation of damages inflicted by the Soviet Union, the Armenian Diocese in Georgia was granted the opportunity to expand the scope of its spiritual, cultural and educational activities. The Agency expands its activities every day, which inspires confidence in religious entities in Georgia. Partial compensation of damages inflicted upon religious communities during the Soviet regime should be noted. The aforementioned steps contributed to an increase of political trust in the state and opened new avenues for cooperation. We highly appreciate the respective approach of the Georgian state to the issues of religious organizations. |