“After a prolonged period of disruption, we have successfully prepared a programme that will allow clergy to preach at schools,” announced Archpriest Andria Jaghmaidze, who also serves as Head of the Public Relations Service at the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC), during the ceremony awarding certificates to the clergy involved in the project.

According to Jaghmaidze, religious education within schools is the “best achievement” that the church and the government could “jointly realise” in honour of the 1,700th anniversary of Georgia’s Shida Kartli region’s conversion to Christianity.

He highlighted that the GOC has made concerted efforts to develop a programme designed to help individuals “make meaningful decisions in life’s situations,” emphasising that culture, art, science, and other fields are “a harmonious blend of the Word of God.”

“We have dedicated much thought and conducted numerous experiments to ensure that our messages are conveyed to the modern individual in a manner that is engaging, avoiding monotony and fatigue.

Most importantly, the programme aims to foster good taste, enabling individuals to recognise values in real-life situations, in literature, art, and cinema; values that are dispersed across various works by different authors and presented in diverse forms.

There was no specific instruction for this; only heartfelt dedication and paternal care for our children have guided us, and it is through this sincere effort that we are beginning to see results in this endeavour,” he stated.