Georgian Church believers hold rally in Tbilisi in support of persecuted UOC
A rally in Tbilisi in support of the UOC. Photo: sputnik-georgia.ru
On June 27, a rally in support of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) was held outside the European Union Embassy in Tbilisi.
Many representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church clergy participated in the event. The participants accused the EU of supporting the persecution of canonical Orthodoxy and held portraits of UOC hierarchs who are on trial.
In the video from the event, you can see that the posters held by the participants depicted specific representatives of the Ukrainian clergy who are in detention and contained other facts about the persecution of the UOC.
During a sermon following a prayer service, priest David Isakadze stated that the situation with the UOC reminds Georgians of what happened in Georgia in the 1920s and 1930s. "We heard, read, and saw this in documentaries," he said.
Additionally, Georgian politician Jondi Bagaturia emphasized that the current Ukrainian authorities are openly persecuting Orthodoxy and the clergy. He also noted the EU's silence regarding these persecutions.
The Georgian Patriarchate did not officially endorse the rally but did not prohibit it either.
Earlier, UOJ reported that a member of the Ukrainian parliament published a list of UOC representatives being persecuted by the authorities.
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