OC Media

OC Media

Georgian ‘royal divorcees’ face-off in court over right to the throne

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Ana Bagration-Gruzinsky and Davit Bagration-Mukhraneli at their wedding. (marshalpress.ge)

Two families claiming to be from Georgia’s Bagra­tioni royal dynasty have gone to court over a dispute regarding who is autho­rised to speak and give away gifts in the name of Georgia’s defunct monarchy.
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Georgia’s cannabis bill to allow home use only

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The debate at the Parliament’s Legal Committee on 19 September (/parliament.ge)

A new bill on cannabis has been intro­duced to par­lia­ment by Georgia’s Interior Ministry which would fully legalise con­sump­tion at home while still imposing fines for the purchase and pos­ses­sion of the drug. The draft law, which came in response to a Con­sti­tu­tion­al Court ruling legal­is­ing cannabis use, has faced criticism from both con­ser­v­a­tives and rights groups.

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Georgian Church slams ‘drug legalisation’

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Meeting of the Holy Synod (patriarchate.ge)

The Georgian Orthodox Church has come out against ‘the legal­i­sa­tion’ of drugs in Georgia, saying it is con­sid­er­ing denying religious rituals to Orthodox Chris­tians who die of an overdose. In a meeting of the Holy Synod, the Church’s ruling body, they called for harsh sentences for drug dealers, while also advo­cat­ing treatment for users. [Read more…]

Georgian Church distance themselves from Neo-Nazi groups

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A priest attending counter-rally on Sunday (Mari Nikuradze /OC Media)

Georgia’s Orthodox Church distanced them­selves from neo-Nazi groups, at a press con­fer­ence at the Patri­ar­chate on Monday, according to Netgazeti. Announc­ing their plans for 17 May — Inter­na­tion­al Day Against Homo­pho­bia, Trans­pho­bia, and Biphobia — the Church urged any ‘aggres­sive’ groups to abstain from par­tic­i­pat­ing in events, and disavowed neo-Nazi group the Nation­al­ist Socialist Movement — National Unity of Georgia. [Read more…]

Georgian Patriarch names ‘incumbent of the patriarchal throne’

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Shio Mujiri (Patriarchate.ge)

Georgian Patriarch Ilia II has named met­ro­pol­i­tan Shio Mujiri as incumbent of the patri­ar­chal throne. Mujiri will take over the Church in the event that Ilia II becomes ill or dies, until a new patriarch is elected. [Read more…]

Georgian Patriarch says foreigners ‘must know their place’

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The Head of Georgia’s Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II (Patriarchate.ge)

The Head of Georgia’s Orthodox Church Patriarch Ilia II has said that for­eign­ers in Georgia should know their place. The Patriarch addressed his parish on 28 September at Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral Youth Centre, according to Netgazeti. [Read more…]

Georgian Patriarchate accused of giving shelter to Turkish ‘terrorists’

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Patri­ar­chate of Georgia (Mzia Saganelidze - RFE/RL)

Two Turkish citizens wanted in Turkey for ‘terrorism’ had been hiding in the Tbilisi residence of Georgian Patriarch Ilia II, Georgian oppo­si­tion TV channel Rustavi 2 reported on 16 September. Giorgi Andriadze, an aca­d­e­mi­cian with close ties to the Patri­ar­chate, has claimed that the suspects were not ter­ror­ists, but members of a per­se­cut­ed ethnic minority. [Read more…]

Georgian Orthodox Church to return donated house after protests

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(Facebook)

Georgia’s Orthodox Church has returned a donated house to it’s previous owners, after they threat­ened to sue the Church for mis­man­ag­ing the property. The Zugdidi–Tsaishi Diocese in north-western Georgia announced their decision in a statement on their Facebook page. [Read more…]

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