On October 19, Doctor of Legal
Sciences, Professor, Academician of Gelati Academy of Sciences
Mariam Tsatsanashvili visited Tbilisi Theological Academy. He
delivered a lecture on “The Historical Significance of the
Constitutional Agreement between the Church and the State.”
Students and teachers of the school attended the public
lecture.
The Professor spoke about the
four models of the relationship between the state and the Church,
which are widespread in the modern world, and discussed in more
detail the Georgian model which is the Constitutional Agreement,
signed in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral on October 14, 2002. She noted
that this is a principle of separated balance on the basis of which
the state recognizes that it is separated from the Church and
cooperates with it in various spheres.
The speaker discussed various
issues of the agreement - obligation to return property confiscated
from the Church during the Communist regime, inviolability of the
Patriarch, etc.; she also spoke about the legal status of other
religious organizations and further development of the
Constitutional Agreement.
The lecture was followed by
questions and discussion. Finally, Archpriest Bidzina Gunia thanked
the guest for the interesting lecture and presented her with books
published by the Publishing House of the Academy.