“Regrettably, those who insult the Patriarch are being given a platform through which their views are allowed to spread,” said the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

Papuashvili was responding to a question concerning the criticism of Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II by the former Metropolitan of Chkondidi, Petre Tsaava.

As Papuashvili emphasised, those who engaged in this shameful conduct, as well as those who provided such individuals with a platform, are equally condemnable; both are enemies not only of the Georgian Church but of Georgian society as a whole.

“Regrettably, we are seeing precisely the same people; there is nothing new here. Petre Tsaava appeared alongside Nanuka Zhorzholiani; both of them were journalists or contributors to the United National Movement’s television channel. What was originally broadcast on that television channel has now simply been transferred to social media. Nothing has changed. The United National Movement learns nothing. Whatever force of evil it was in power and in opposition, it remains that same force of evil, one that wages war against everything Georgian, against every value that bears the name of a Georgian value. Under the banner of so-called European values, which they themselves cannot even explain, for they cannot say what they actually mean by ‘European values,’ they seek to displace and replace Georgian values. And yet the reality is precisely the opposite: it is Georgian values that are truly European values. Whoever strays from Georgian values strays from European values. This is yet further proof that not a single member or apologist of the United National Movement will ever change their character,” Papuashvili declared.