“Only a human being is created in the image and likeness of God—intelligent, articulate, endowed with goodness, free will, and the capacity for divine love, always ready to seek and serve the truth,” writes His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, in his Christmas Epistle.

In his message, the Georgian Patriarch emphasizes the importance of loving humanity and rejecting selfishness.

“Fear of death is characteristic of a degraded individual. This fear compels individuals to pursue various means of prolonging life, inventing methods and constructing an illusion of prosperity, ultimately in vain.

Such pursuits often lead to greater mistakes and exacerbate the existing spiritual crisis. A person unable to recognize that the fear of death stems from sin cannot understand that a soul enslaved by sin unconsciously fears encountering God, resulting in tremors of dread. Instead of turning away from immorality and seeking to purify the soul, these individuals often succumb to nihilism and find refuge in atheism, though there are many other reasons for disbelief.

For these individuals, life is merely a journey from birth to death, with existence concluding at death. Consequently, they perceive concepts such as evil, goodness, hypocrisy, faithfulness, envy, love, and immorality as mere ordinary feelings. They feel no sense of responsibility to others or God, for they lack belief in an afterlife or eternal values,” states the Epistle.