Georgian Elder on the Lavra: Whoever touches the relics will be punished
Archpriest Davit Jishkariani with the UOJ team in Svetitskhoveli. Photo: UOJ
Archpriest Davit Jishkariani, who has served in Svetitskhoveli for 45 years, spoke about the situation surrounding the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in an interview with a correspondent of the Georgian branch of the UOJ.
When asked about the legal dispute between the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church regarding the status of the Lavra’s churches, the Georgian priest gave a clear answer: “In the churches lie the saints who rest there – they are inviolable. Whoever dares to touch them with his hand – all will be punished, and are punished.”
According to him, the holy relics were placed in the Lavra precisely so that “descendants could see them.” He emphasized that the Lavra holds relics of various saints of different nationalities.
The Georgian priest expressed bewilderment at attempts to restrict worship services in the Lavra: “Why should they interfere with all this?”
To illustrate his position, Dean Jishkariani cited a Georgian proverb: “It is said: ‘A warrior cannot forbid a horse – he starts tearing the bridle,’” implying that when one cannot solve the main problem, they begin to act on something else.
In the same conversation, the priest spoke about the need to strengthen Christianity among the youth and stressed the importance of “mutual respect, friendship, and love” in the Orthodox world.
Earlier, the UOJ reported that, according to Georgian priest Shalva Kekelia, insulting the relics of the venerable saints of the Lavra “will not be forgiven by anyone.”
Read also
His Beatitude tonsures fourth-year KDAiS students as readers
On the Sunday of the Veneration of the Cross in Great Lent, the Primate of the UOC presided over the divine services at Holosiiv Monastery.
UN: By 2050, Ukraine will become the world leader in youth shortage
According to the organization’s report, the share of young people in the country’s population will place Ukraine first in the global anti-ranking.
OCU сleric in Kosmach seizes his own church as parish rejects new calendar
With police support and the backing of the village council head, the “priest” cut off the locks on the church with an angle grinder and threatened dissenting parishioners with forced mobilization.
Euthanasia-caused deaths in Canada reach 100,000
Record mortality figures under the state-run MAiD program have made euthanasia the fifth leading cause of death among citizens.
Persecuted UOC parish in Tovtry celebrates Holy Unction Sacrament
The faithful of the Dormition parish, deprived of their church by OCU supporters, gathered for common prayer in an adapted space during Great Lent.
Monastic tonsure performed in Khust Eparchy
At the St. Seraphim Men’s Monastery in the city of Rakhiv, Bishop Mark performed a monastic tonsure.