Bells, white roses, and a bit of politics: how Georgia bid farewell to Patriarch Ilia
Kyiv • UNN
The head of the Church was buried in Sioni Cathedral after five days of mourning. The opposition was not invited to the ceremony despite calls for unity and amnesty.
Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazeti, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II was buried in Tbilisi on Sunday, on the fifth day of national mourning, UNN reports with reference to "News Georgia".
Details
For five days, entertainment events in Georgia were canceled, and people continuously flowed to the coffin of the head of the Church around the clock.
Ilia II died on March 17 at the age of 93, as a result of massive internal bleeding. For almost five decades, he headed the Georgian Orthodox Church, managing to revive church life after the Soviet period and personified stability by the very fact of his existence against the backdrop of geopolitical cataclysms. He was on the throne during stagnation, perestroika, the collapse of the USSR, the gaining of independence, civil and territorial wars. By the end of his life, he was considered one of the most revered Orthodox hierarchs in the world. During his patriarchate, six pontiffs changed in the Vatican, and four national governments in Georgia: Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze, Mikheil Saakashvili, and Bidzina Ivanishvili.
White roses became the symbol of mourning in Georgia these days.
In order for everyone to be able to say goodbye to the Patriarch, the authorities made public transport in the capital and tickets for trains and buses from the regions free of charge.
On March 22, the coffin with the body of the Catholicos-Patriarch was transported from the Holy Trinity Cathedral - Sameba to Sioni Cathedral, one of the oldest churches in Tbilisi, whose history dates back about 14 centuries. The procession moved through the streets through a living corridor of people who came to see off the head of the church on his last journey.
At the moment of Ilia II's burial, funeral bells rang in all churches of Georgia.
Mourning with a touch of political games
Georgian billionaire, founder and honorary chairman of the "Georgian Dream" party Bidzina Ivanishvili and his wife stood in the first row at the farewell ceremony.
Ivanishvili, and after him the leaders of the "Georgian Dream", noted that Ilia II "dedicated his life, as well as his death, to the unification and rallying of his flock - the Georgian people."
Despite the words about all-forgiveness and the unification of Georgians, opponents of the government were not invited to the mourning ceremonies. The fifth president Salome Zurabishvili, who is in opposition to the ruling party, called for political amnesty the day before the funeral, but this wish remained unanswered.