The Patriarchate of Georgia has issued a statement regarding Archimandrite Dorote (Kurashvili).

According to the statement, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II has approved a petition to suspend the priestly duties of Archimandrite Dorote.

“As is publicly known, Archimandrite Dorote (Kurashvili) has repeatedly made unfair accusations and insulting statements against members of the Synod of the Church of Georgia and individual clergy, either through the media or during sermons from the pulpit.

On September 16 of this year, a meeting was held with him, during which he agreed to refrain from such statements. However, he violated this commitment on September 28. Subsequently, he was summoned twice to the diocesan commission—once reprimanded for failing to appear without justification, and a second time dismissed from the leadership of the Bethlehem Cathedral of the Nativity of the Savior.

On November 26, the commission sent Archimandrite Dorote a formal letter containing a warning and urging him to return to the brotherhood of Christ. Despite these measures, he continued to make baseless and insulting statements against church hierarchs. He was again summoned to the diocesan commission on December 16.

After expressing further insults and unjust accusations during his sermons and television appearances, the choir bishops, members of the Synodal Commission, and individual clergymen—including the Protopresbyter of the Georgian Church and the Patriarch’s secretary—petitioned the Catholicos-Patriarch to suspend his priestly duties. His Holiness approved the petition,” the Patriarchate’s statement reads.