Your Eminence, Locum Tenese of
the Throne of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia,
Mr. Speaker of the
Parliament,
Dear guests,
It is a pleasure for me to be
present at the ceremony of awarding the title of Honorary Doctor
(honoris causa) to the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, His
Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, and as the President of Georgia, to
have the opportunity to speak briefly on behalf of Georgian society
on His Holiness’s merits before our country and nation. I should
also add that I was a little surprised that His Holiness had not
received the honorary degree of our seminary and academy
before.
Your Holiness, the Autocephalous
Apostolic Orthodox Church of Georgia was reborn in your hands when
it was restored as a full member of the family of world
churches.
With your indefaticable work, you
have been able to construct and rebuild many churches and
monasteries in Georgia and, first of all, you did this work
everywhere along our borders, which is most crucial for our
state.
You made religious education
available at the time when the society of Georgia was almost
absolutely atheist. That endeavor was manifested, first of all, by
the establishment of a theological seminary, which was followed by
educational institutions and universities of various
profiles.
You achieved to preserve and
revive Georgian culture within the Georgian Church, whether it was
architecture, winemaking, agriculture, handicrafts, monumental
painting, Church hymns, icon painting, enamel art, goldsmithing, or
embroidery, and many more.
Unforgettable is your heroism
during the 2008 war, when even our enemy was powerless to confront
your mission. As a true parent and their own flesh and blood,
bereaved with their deaths, you brought down the bodies our fallen
heroes from the occupied zone and commited them to the earth with
honor.
During these tumultuous years,
great is your contribution to the consolation of the devastated
parents and to giving new essence to their lives.
You protect orphans, oversee
their upbringing and education, and handle the demographics of
Georgia.
A list of your deeds has no end
and this is an example of genuin work!
Georgian society appreciates your
unfathomable service to our country, which is first of all
exhibited in the loyalty to our state and society and care for
them, during these difficult years.
With a surprising forbearance,
you are still bearing the heavy yoke of the Catholicos-Patriarch of
Georgia.
It is truly difficult to be the
spiritual leader of the community in a transitional time, seeking
the people’s spiritual salvation by adhering not only to Christian
but also to universal humanistic ideas.
You have had to be the spiritual
shepherd of Georgia in the time of ordeal. However, ordeals are
never over, the world is entering a new turbulent era.
Your prayers have great power.
Today, when our two brotherly countries are at war and the blood of
our brothers is still being shed on the holy land of the Caucasus,
your prayer for peace will spare us from trials and bring peace to
us again.
I consider you to be the greatest
figure of our epoch and I am happy to have the honor of being
President of Georgia during your tenure.
I congratulate you on this day
and I wish Georgia that her Patriarch have many more years of
life.