Georgian Church Synod member: I support the Ukrainian autocephaly

A member of the Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Petre of Chkondidi, spoke in support of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church in Ukraine, Russian newspaper "Vzglyad" reports citing the Georgian television channel "Rustavi-2".

“Ukraine, an independent country with 40 million population, therefore, of course, I personally believe that it should have an independent Church,” he said after the meeting of the Synod of the Georgian Church.

“Ukraine should not be subject to the primate of the aggressor country in the ecclesial dimension," said the Metropolitan. At the same time, he noted that this process can be extended in time. He emphasized that he currently does not know the answer whether the entire Georgian Synod supports Ukrainian autocephaly, as this process is still under discussion.

The Metropolitan emphasized that the Patriarchate of Constantinople is working on this issue, but simultaneously, Georgia is studying this topic in parallel with it.

It should be noted that today the Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church is taking place, which among the other topics considers the issues of Ukrainian autocephaly. In addition to Ukraine, the hierarchs discuss the attempted poisoning of the Patriarch last year, as well as the appointment of Metropolitan Shio (Mudzhiri) as a locum tenens to the patriarch Catholicos Ilya II.

Earlier, the secretary of the Synod of the GOC Fr, Michael Botkovelli said that this issue was complex and should be resolved on the basis of canonical regulations.

As reported, a representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion visited Georgia, as well as a delegation from the Constantinople Patriarchate.