Religion and the State in Georgia
Principles of secularism in the constitution of independent Georgia and the Georgian church
against Soviet occupation
Chapter 16 of the first constitution of Georgia, adopted in 1921, was titled “The State and the Church.” It consisted of three articles:
“Article 142 – The state and the church shall be separate and independent.
Article 143 – No religion shall enjoy privileges.
Article 144 – Payment of expenses relating to religious matters from the state treasury and local self-government funds shall be prohibited.”
Strictly formulated secular principles did not prevent the Orthodox Church of Georgia from taking a strongly negative stance towards the occupation of Georgia by Soviet Russia.
Catholicos-Patriarch Ambrosi Khelaia petitioned the 1922 Genoa International Conference:
“In 1918, the Georgian people proclaimed their independence and immediately began to rebuild the political, national, and spiritual life of the country… Obviously, Russia, the former master of Georgia and oppressor of smaller nations, could not tolerate this. It sent troops to the Georgian borders, and on February 25, 1921, the humiliating yoke of slavery was again imposed on the small and wounded Georgia, the worst it had ever experienced in its centuries-long history.
It is true that the aggressors are trying to demonstrate to everyone , both at home and abroad, that they have liberated and benefited the Georgian nation. However, as the spiritual father of the Georgian nation, I know how “happy” they are… Without any exaggeration, let me say that the experiments to which the Georgian nation has been subjected will inevitably lead to its physical and moral degradation!
The Georgian nation is wounded, but it cannot even raise its voice. Under these circumstances, I, as the chief shepherd of the Georgian nation, consider it my duty to declare to civilized mankind: I, as a representative of the Church, do not enter into debates regarding comparative merits of various forms of political life; however, I cannot dissociate myself from such aspirations of our nation as to create relatively favorable conditions for its material and spiritual development.
Therefore, I am asking:
Because of this petition, the Bolshevik regime arrested the Patriarch and executed him.
