Georgia: the religion of Georgians

Georgia is one of those countries where religion played a key role in the formation of national statehood. Suffice it to say that Georgia became the second in world history (after Armenia), in which Christianity received the status of state religion, and it happened in 326 AD. The state of Georgia, religion - categories are practically inseparable at an early stage of their historical development.

Modern Georgians, whose religion is represented by almost all confessions of world religions, remain a very tolerant and tolerant people, as they have been for many centuries. Despite the fact that Christianity plays the predominant role in the country, each Georgian church is respected by representatives of other religious communities. And today there are several in the country, the confessional differentiation of the population is determined mainly by their ethnicity and territorial location. So, Abkhazians and Adzharians, mainly profess Islam, the same religion is held by Azerbaijanis and Kurds living in the country. The Russian, Armenian and Greek population of Georgia professes mostly Orthodoxy. There are also Catholics in the country, but their number is small.

The largest religious community in Georgia is the Orthodox, which is organizationally represented by the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church. It is an autonomous church organization headed by a patriarch. To date, the patriarch of all Georgia (Catholicos), is the Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi Ilia II. This position he occupies since 1977. Georgian Orthodoxy is one of the oldest Christian denominations in the world. According to religious traditions, it is Georgia that is the apostolic choice of God's mother. Religion in this country has always been significant in the development of culture, for example, many scholars associate the appearance of a kind of Georgian script - morglovani - with the spread of Orthodoxy in the territory of this country and Armenia, which also still retains this type of writing. The Orthodox Church of Georgia is a fairly large confession, it occupies the sixth place among the local churches of the Slavic peoples. Jurisdiction of Georgian autocephaly, and designed the church in the 9th century, extends not only to the whole territory of the country, but also to all Georgians, wherever they are. In 2001, a concordat (agreement) was signed between the government of the country and the leadership of the Orthodox Church, according to which the Orthodox Church was given certain advantages in comparison with other faiths. But in 2011, a law was passed that granted the right of the legal entity to all religious nominations. The Constitution of Georgia declares complete freedom of religion, emphasizing the special role of Orthodoxy in the history of the country. And today, in connection with large Orthodox holidays , amnesties are declared in Georgia and other state actions are held. Georgia, a religion in which is polyconfessional, has given shelter to other representatives of Christianity.

One of the most widespread denominations is the Armenian church, whose representatives profess Monophysitism. They are quite numerous, in Tbilisi alone there are more than a quarter of a million Armenians. The spiritual high priest for them is the Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II. Lately, there have been cases of misunderstanding between the representatives of the Orthodox autocephaly of Georgia and the Armenian church on the issue of permission for worship in some churches, the membership of which is considered disputable.

Catholicism in Georgia is represented by a small community - about 100 thousand people. But the second largest is the Muslim community. Practitioners of Islam in Georgia - more than 400 thousand people. In the state of Georgia, religion is represented by the Jewish faith, and according to some reports, the first Jews appeared in the country immediately after the fall of Jerusalem as a result of the campaign of Nebuchadnezzar, and it happened, as is known, back in 586 BC!

Today in Georgia there are many remarkable monuments reflecting the religious cultures of all world religions. Many of them are operating shrines, to which hundreds of thousands of pilgrims make pilgrimage annually.