Georgia: Law on Religious Groups' status may boost armeno-phobia moods

PanARMENIAN.Net - One of leaders of Georgia’s Christians-Democrats Levan Vepkhvadze thinks that the Law on Religious Groups' status may bring to armeno-phobia and xenophobic tendencies.

In this connection, Vepkhvadze calls on ruling party to assume responsibility.

“The point is that the authorities had fears connected with high prestige and rating the Church has. They found a moment for breaking the prestige. The fact that after requests and appeals of Church the authorities nevertheless passed the draft law may arouse indignation among peculiar population,” Vepkhvadze said, as reported by Georgia Online.

Amendments to Georgian Civil Code on granting the status of legal persons to religious units in Georgia have entered into force.

According to the acting law, the Georgian President has 10 days to adopt a positive decision either veto it, or return it to the Parliament for corrections. Georgian parliament introduced amendments to Civil Code, granting the status of legal persons of public law to 5 religious units - Armenian Apostolic Church, Roman Catholic Church, the Muslim community, the Jewish community and the Baptist church in Georgia. Law of Georgia defines a legal person of public law as an organization separated from the state bodies, created by the relevant law, enact of the President of Georgia or by the administrative act of state bodies, adopted on the basis of law, which conducts political, state, social, educational, cultural and other public activities. The issue of Armenian Apostolic Church status is in the agenda of the Armenian-Georgian relations. Within the visit of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians to Georgia, the Georgian side offered to provide Georgian Orthodox Church in Armenia the same rights as the Armenian Apostolic Church has in Georgia.