Georgia rejects Patriarch Bartholomew's influence in church election

Officials in Georgia maintain that Patriarch Bartholomew I of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople cannot intervene in the process of electing the country’s new patriarch, TASS reports, citing Andria Jagmaidze, head of the Georgian Patriarchate’s public relations service.

“Such interference by an autocephalous church is unimaginable for us. We consider it completely impossible. There are no grounds for this information,” Jagmaidze told Radio Liberty.

Earlier, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service stated that Patriarch Bartholomew allegedly wants to promote a representative of the Georgian Orthodox Church to the vacant post “on whom he could rely.”

Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of all Georgia passed away on the evening of March 17. A period of mourning was declared in Georgia until his funeral, which took place at the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi on March 22. According to the charter of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Holy Synod must elect a new primate no earlier than 40 days and no later than two months after the death of the previous patriarch.

By Jeyhun Aghazada