Speaker Shalva Papuashvili: Our generation holds the honour of marking 1,700 years of Christian statehood and turning the page for generations to come

“Our generation holds the honour of celebrating 1,700 years of Christian statehood, turning the page for the future generation that will inevitably gather right here in Mtskheta 100 years from now,” Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili declared in Mtskheta.

Papuashvili congratulated the public on the feast day of Svetitskhovloba.

“We are marking the date when, 1,700 years ago, our ancestors made their decision and embarked upon the true faith; a path they walked akin to Golgotha, without ever straying. 1,700 years ago, right here in this place, King Mirian did not merely adopt a new religion; he adopted a new system of values and a new cultural foundation for himself and his people. Were it not for this Christian cultural bedrock, we would not have The Knight in the Panther’s Skin; we would not have Thou Art a Vineyard; we would not have Georgian polyphony, nor would we have Vazha or Ilia. Were it not for this Christian value system, we would not be the nation we are today.

Our generation has walked its own Golgotha. Yet at the same time, we are the generation that witnessed a human miracle that resurrected the Georgian Church from the ashes. For half a century, we have been both witnesses to and participants in this miracle. Therefore, on this day, we must remember our holy Patriarch, Ilia II. Our generation holds the honour of celebrating 1,700 years of Georgia’s Christian statehood, turning this page into the next century for our future generation, which will gather right here in this very place 100 years from now to celebrate the 1,800th anniversary, and then another 100 years after that, for as long as this world exists. This is our mission; this is our goal; this is our nation’s spiritual purpose. I congratulate you all once again on this historic day and pray that our nation, truly united in our Church, just as we witnessed during the farewell to our holy Patriarch, continues to press forward. May God protect Georgia,” Papuashvili stated.