Faith Above Life

The declaration of universal quarantine in Georgia came into force at 08:00 a.m. on March 31.

On March 30, Georgian Prime Minister Georgy Gakharia went to the Patriarchate where he met with Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II to convince the church to abandon the crowded celebration of the Resurrection Christ, as in other Orthodox countries; however,  in vain.

After this meeting, the Prime Minister, announcing the introduction of quarantine in the country, said that the life and health of citizens are today the main concern of the government, as well as the main concern of the church.

“When the talk is about human life and health, we will always be able to find a compromise with the church,” said Gakharia, answering journalists' questions regarding church services and the sacrament on the eve of Easter.

Earlier, on March 20, the Synod of the GOC decided that refusing to use a common spoon for the sacrament, as a source of infection is unacceptable. “According to the court’s decision, the rules of the sacrament will not change and disposable tableware can only be used for drinking, after the sacrament,” the GOC said.

On April 13 evening, the Georgian authorities attempted (previous attempts to agree with the church leadership on temporary changes to the rituals failed) to find a common language with the GOC, which practically ignores the state of emergency introduced in the country to counter the pandemic. However, the church could not be convinced.

The church continued (and continues) to conduct crowded services throughout the country, although it recommended that parishioners observe a distance of one and a half to two meters and other recommendations of the Ministry of Health. The churches continued to hold communion of parishioners from the same dishes.

The church not only does not want to obey the requirements of the State of Emergency Act, it claims that the relatively low number of cases is due to priests, that their unceasing prayers keep the epidemic in Georgia at a controlled level.

In the end, Gakharia reconciled to the fact that on Easter night the temples will be open. Fortunately, a “Solomon solution” was found - if the believers during the curfew are in churches, and not on streets and squares, then the law will not be violated.

After meeting with the patriarch, the prime minister held a briefing and announced that, despite the continued spread of coronavirus, churches throughout the country would remain open. At the same time, he expressed hope that the public would act responsibly and would not go to church, although the government would not urge, not do so.

In fact, Gakharia shifted responsibility for the possible consequences to the citizens themselves. He acknowledged that Georgia has now "completely entered the stage of internal spread (coronavirus COVID-19 - approx. Ed.)", because of which the state of emergency will be extended until May 10.

“Are we an Orthodox state with a thousand-year experience of cooperation between the church and the state?! - Gakharia asked himself a rhetorical question and answered himself - “We speak about topics that are existential for both the church and the government ... This is an existential problem that the Church should not be closed, which is also understandable.”

It is noteworthy that the idea of ​​“circumventing the law", hiding in large numbers in churches, was supported by former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.

“I think that the decision to hold an Easter liturgy in churches, as well as preserving the rite of communion, is the most important in the situation in which our country and the Church find themselves. This decision is directly related to faith in Christ and the sacrament of communion. With regard to the state of emergency, it is possible that believers, observing the established rules, remain in churches from nine in the evening until six in the morning. After all, the temple is the house of God. And that means the house of all those people who are humble approaching the Lord,” Kvirikashvili wrote on his Facebook page.

At the same time, the former prime minister, as well as the current one, is not at all embarrassed by the fact that the law prohibits not only going out, but also gathering for more than three. Most importantly, they somehow lost sight of the fact that Georgia is a secular state, where religion is separated from the government, and which is regulated based on civil rather than religious norms, and that decisions of state bodies cannot have religious justification.

One more thing - the position of the government and the statements of its head are clearly discriminatory. The fact that mosques are closed throughout the country and free access to Orthodox churches is contrary to government claims that everyone is equal before the law.

Most importantly, the actions that go beyond the framework of logic can result in very serious consequences for the Georgian population. The state, which should be busy, enforcing the law and not allowing some privileged caste to break the law, especially when it comes to the life of citizens, in this situation should react most strictly to such statements of the church.

The head of the National Center for Disease Control of Georgia Amiran Gamkrelidze warned that if we weaken social distance and do not follow extraordinary standards, then by the end of April and in the first ten days of May there would be several thousand cases of COVID-19 in Georgia.

"It is unacceptable. We play with fire! I will tell you directly: the next 2-3 weeks will be very difficult. Estimate that 20-30% will need intensive care and resuscitation, which will be a heavy burden for the healthcare system. Unfortunately, we will have losses. Therefore, we must take all of this very seriously. I ask the people of Georgia to abide by all the rules established by the state,” he said.

In neighboring Georgia, due to restrictions imposed due to the threat of the spread of the coronavirus, parishioners were unable to get into churches and watched the preceding Easter liturgy live on the official Echmiadzin Facebook page, on Public Television, as well as on several other television channels. Easter will be held in the same vein. The same picture is in other Orthodox countries.

What explains the extremely soft position of the Georgian government? Most likely, on the eve of the parliamentary elections, the ruling party “Georgian Dream,” whose rating, during the years of its reign, has noticeably shaken, does not dare to aggravate relations with the church - undoubtedly the most influential institution in the country. The political price for it is much higher than the lives of several tens or even thousands of citizens.