Patriarch of All Georgia considers law on Religious Groups' Legal Status dangerous

PanARMENIAN.Net - The main responsibility for ‘dangerous’ law on Religious Groups' Legal Status is imposed on the Georgian President Mikhail Sahakashvili, according to the Catholicos- Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II.

“This law is both significant and dangerous. The legislators must think of consequences the law may have in some ten, hundred years. We lack analytical thinking. Analysis is made before action and not after that,” said the Catholicos and added that Georgian Apostolic Church is not against granting the status.

“We do not say those religions must not be granted status. We just offered to invite scholars, clergymen and discuss the matter,” Patriarch said.

Ilia II addressed President Sahakashvili with a request to veto the law “unless it is discussed and crosschecked.” However by the time the Patriarch made the statement, the amendments have already entered into force being signed by the President, according to Civil.ge.

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.