“After the Patriarch’s passing, everyone saw the spirit of the Georgian people: where Georgia must stand, what a Georgian person must defend, and what kind of country we wish to build,” said Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili, speaking to Georgian journalists in Slovakia.

“Throughout that week, I was in constant contact with clergy, and they themselves were struck with wonder at what was unfolding in Georgia after the Patriarch’s repose. It speaks to the immense spiritual power of that extraordinary man. We saw the mood of the people not only within Georgia, but beyond its borders. This is precisely what we are defending. No government can exist without making mistakes. If we cast an honest eye over the events of recent years, we see that the government does make mistakes, but what matters enormously is when it listens to the people and to institutions held in the highest esteem. Our government has been able to do that; today, the clergy and the laity stand together, and that is precisely what we are protecting.

Everyone saw where Georgia must stand, what a Georgian person must defend, and what kind of country we wish to build. There was no political divide here. This was a national matter: that we will not surrender, under any circumstances, our homeland, our faith, our language, our culture, or our traditions. This was the message expressed in recent years by His Holiness and Beatitude. It is around these values that we fight on the political field. Yesterday’s meeting touched on these very themes, and common ground we share with Slovakia: the defence of national interests, traditions, and family values. These are matters that concern every country, and small countries most of all,” said Mikheil Kavelashvili.

The President also observed that the days surrounding the Patriarch’s passing had revealed that the overwhelming majority of the people remain steadfastly loyal to their Church and their faith.

“No one has forgotten how they waged war against the Patriarch. Several videos have circulated in which the Patriarch himself speaks of the confrontation and the struggle against him, of how the forces and the government of that time sought to diminish our Apostolic Church. It was precisely those individuals, now united in opposition, who were responsible for this. In the days of the Patriarch’s passing, it became clear that the vast majority of the people are loyal to their Church and their faith. They could never, by any means, diminish the authority of our Patriarch and the Patriarchate. Over ninety per cent of the population trusted the Patriarchate, and for those people, it was of the utmost importance to try somehow to damage that extraordinary level of trust.

Every one of us, every Georgian citizen, has cause for remorse, and all the more so now that His Holiness has departed: that we did not do enough to defend our Patriarch and the Patriarchate when these people, or their partners, were heaping insults upon them. Recall what Michael Roth, the Chairman of the German Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, did. His actions were truly extraordinary: he openly and directly expressed support for the opposition and stated that the root of your problem lies in your faith and your Patriarchate. Such individuals are allies of both this newly formed and longstanding radical opposition. How can anyone in Georgia doubt for a moment whether they are essentially the same force? How can a Georgian citizen allow themselves to support or follow this radical wing?

I say again: we have begun the process of healing the political landscape, and it is not proceeding badly at all. Parties of differing views must certainly exist, but they must stand on a national platform, without exception,” said Mikheil Kavelashvili.