The Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili stated that love for the homeland is first and foremost learned within the family, at the “native hearth,” emphasizing the role of Georgian traditions, parental guidance, and ancestral memory in shaping moral values.

Speaking at the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi during the Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents, the President said that a morally strong family is the foundation of a strong state.

“Today, on May 17, we celebrate a special day — the Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents. The family is, first and foremost, a moral school that preserves our unique culture, state consciousness, and national identity.

A person shares love for the homeland, first of all, in the family, at the native hearth. In the Georgian folk tradition, the mother’s prayer, the father’s instruction, and the memory of ancestors have always been the invisible force that set a person on the right path. Like our ancestors, today we also deeply believe that a morally strong family is the foundation of a strong state,” the President said.

Kavelashvili stressed that throughout Georgia’s history, the survival of the nation has often depended not only on the battlefield but also within the family unit, where language, faith, and traditions were preserved and passed down through generations.

“Our Mother Church plays a great role in protecting and preserving this most important value. Today, when we talk about the purity of the family, it is impossible not to remember with great gratitude the epochal legacy of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II. It was on his initiative that the Day of the Purity of the Family and Respect for Parents was established. His Holiness bore the spiritual fatherhood of the nation during the most difficult period for the country. His contribution to supporting demography is immeasurable. His initiative to baptize the third and subsequent children instilled courage and faith in thousands of Georgian families. This tradition breathed new life into our demographic future and showed each of us that every new life is the greatest wealth of the country,” the President said.

“The priceless spiritual legacy is today continued with dignity by His Holiness and Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III,” he added.

The President concluded by congratulating the public on the holiday and wished blessings upon Georgian families and the country.