Patriarch of Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church are accused of hate speech and intolerance in the report of the Commission against Racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe

March 28, 2016. The report of the Commission against racism and Intolerance of the Council of Europe presents its report and attributes hate speech and Intolerance to Patriarch Ilia and the Georgian Orthodox Church, as it is referred on the official website of the CoE.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) issued guidelines to all 47 member States of the Council of Europe on how to prevent hate speech, support those targeted by it, and deal with its consequences.

The ECRI published on 1st March 2016 its monitoring work about Georgia in its report. According to it: “Hate speech against LGBT persons ranges from insults in daily life to hateful comments made by politicians, journalists or members of the Orthodox Georgian clergy. The situation worsened during the discussion about the inclusion of sexual orientation and gender identity into the anti-discrimination law”. The report continues against the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia: “Hate speech also occurred during protests against public LGBT events to mark the International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO), for example in May 2013. The Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church called the LGBT events “an insult to the Georgian nation” and “homosexuality a “disease”” (p.16 of the report).

The report mentions that “although the Constitution provides for freedom of religion, the general situation is characterized by a close relationship between national and Georgian Orthodox Identity. Such an ethnoreligious identity nexus portrays adherence to the Georgian Orthodox faith, to which more than 80% of the population is affiliated, as essential for being Georgian. Minority religions are often viewed as alien and potentially dangerous to the cohesion and survival of Georgian society, especially when they are associated with ethnic groups that have ties to neighboring countries. The near monopoly of one Christian church has not facilitated the creation of a constructive pluralistic religious tradition in the past” (p. 27 of the report).

ECRI recommends solving the remaining disputes about religious property in a speedy, transparent and fair manner. It also recommends amending the strategy for the development of a religious policy to focus on the rights of religious minorities, the principle of non-discrimination and the promotion of religious tolerance from a perspective of inclusion and integration.

Metropolitan of Bortzoni (Georgian Orthodox Church), Serafim, was very surprised with this report and the accusations against Patriarch Ilia, as the website romfea reports. Metropolitan Serafim, underlined that homosexuality is against the principles of Georgian people. The Patriarch didn’t condemn anyone, but he informed about something which is referred in the Bible. He also said that priests have the duty to prevent people from making sins.

The Abbess of the Georgian Monastery Saint Barbara (Tbilisi), Serafimia, commented in the website romfea this report as an “attack against the Orthodox Church”. “I expressed my discomfort about this report which is an offence against the personality of Patriarch Ilia and the Georgian people. How can we talk about racism and intolerance when in Georgia we have more than 300 mosques”? No one needs such Europe, which imposes to us the same-sex marriage. This Europe offends Christ”, said the Abbess.