Ecumenical Prayer in Tbilisi |
On January 23, 2015 the Ecumenical Prayer service for Christian unity was delivered at Lutheran Church in Tbilisi under the motto “Give Water”. His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, the Primate of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, Archbishop Giuseppe Pasotto, the leader of Apostolic Department of Caucasian Latin Catholics, Bishop Hans-Joachim Kiderlen, the leader of the Evangelical Lutheran church in Georgia, Bishops Merab Gaprindashvili and Rusudan Gotsiridze, the leaders of the Evangelical Baptist church in Georgia, took part in the Ecumenical Prayer service, which was also attended by clergy and faithful unions from other Christian churches and inter-religious organizations and by the representatives of Georgia’s Muslim community. Present for the Ecumenical service were; Zaza Vashakmadze, the President of the State Religious Affairs Agency, Marek Solchinski, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See in South Caucasus, Ortwin Hennig, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany in Georgia. Participating church representatives said prayers of hearing the Word of God, of being united in faith and of Confession and Pardon. Despite the variety of cultures and languages, the motto of Christian unity pronounced in all prayers was the same; though we are all different, let the Almighty water fill our souls with kindness and with the feeling of being united. It was the warm feeling of support to each other that prevailed during the Ecumenical Prayer service. They also prayed for stopping the bloodshed and terrorism in the world and for the establishment of worldwide peace. The representatives of the churches lighted candles and immersed them into the baptismal font. The Ecumenical Prayer service ended with the prayers and blessings of four bishops in their own language.
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