GEORGIA:CHURCH-STATE SEPARATION BECOMES AN ISSUE AMID GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
Molly Corso

Eurasianet

April 6, 2009

A $15-million government "grant" to the Georgian Orthodox Patriarchate
is raising concerns about church-state relations in Georgia. The
Georgian constitution calls for a clear separation between church and
state, but critics believe that the financial relationship between
President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration and the Georgian
Orthodox Church suggests that the letter of the law is not being
followed.

In 2009, the amount of financing the Church received tripled
to 25 million lari, or roughly $15 million. The budget increase
comes on the heels of another controversial government gift: luxury
sports utility vehicles for each of the church’s 10 archbishops. No
other religion in Georgia receives state funding, or gifts from the
government. Representatives of the Patriarchate state that both the
budget increase and the cars are benign examples of government’s
goodwill and respect — not a sign that Georgian Orthodoxy, the
faith of the vast majority of the country’s 4.4 million residents,
serves as a de facto state religion.

"It is very clearly written in the constitution that the church and the
state are absolutely independent. . . . We did not want to be somehow
the state religion. . . . We are against that," church spokesperson
Father Davit Sharashenidze said.

A representative of the Patriarchate’s accounting department told
EurasiaNet that it requested the threefold increase in funds to cover
new social welfare projects, and remodeling expenses in educational
institutions.

The cars, the accountants said, were a token of esteem toward
Patriarch Ilia II on the 30th anniversary of his 1977 enthronement;
the Patriarchate notes that the government stipulated that the cars
were for Church use only, and that no archbishop received permission
to either sell, or to otherwise profit from the vehicles.

But critics maintain that the Patriarchy has inextricably tied itself
to the government through its dependency on government financing
and "presents." Apart from donations and the sale of religious
paraphernalia, the Church has no other source of income. The threefold
increase in financing for 2009, coming on the heels of Georgia’s
unsuccessful war against Russia, "is like a gesture to the Church
.. . . from the president that ‘I am with you and you should be with
me,’" said Beka Mindiashvili, a religion monitor at the Georgian Public
Defender’s Office and an outspoken church critic. "This money speaks
that [President Mikheil Saakashvili] is counting on [the Patriarch’s
support] during difficult times."

Citing a lack of knowledge about the party’s policy, a spokesperson
for the governing United National Movement declined to comment on the
relationship between the government and the church. The relationship,
however, has the appearance of being extensive. In recent days, senior
United National Movement members have appeared on television with
the patriarch to appeal for calm in the upcoming April 9 opposition
protests. Ilia II has also served as an apparent unofficial envoy to
Moscow following the severance of diplomatic ties with Russia.

Religious scholar Levan Abashidze argues that by taking on such
a public role while accepting state funds and other benefits, the
Church is "giving up its freedom."

"[O]ne of the main ideas is the church has moral authority. You
cannot have moral authority if you are always with the government,"
Abashidze said.

Mindiashvili, who studied at the Georgian Theological Academy, notes
that the practice of giving presents to the church "to receive the
authority of the church" goes beyond the government. Businesspeople
are known to sponsor new churches or church repairs; parish priests
rely on donations or free services from churchgoers to supplement
their salaries.

The government’s return of church property confiscated while Georgia
was part of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union has sparked
further criticism.

Guram Chakhvadze, deputy chairman of the parliamentary Budget and
Finance Committee and a member of the opposition Christian-Democrats
faction, told EurasiaNet that the property transfers to date have
been made on an ad hoc basis. Chakhvadze stressed, however, that
only property with historic ties to the church — and under current
government ownership — is being transferred.

EurasiaNet was not able to receive a list of property the government
has already returned to the church.

Patriarchate representatives could not give an immediate response about
the total amount of property received since the 2002 concordat that
defined the church’s constitutional relationship with the government.

Tax benefits are another aspect of the church’s special
status. Patriarchate accountants state that the church does not
pay tax on either salaries or property or the sale of religious
paraphernalia. Other religions do not qualify automatically for the
same benefits. Registration as either a union or a foundation is
required to receive tax benefits. Some have taken the step, but,
others, like the Armenian Apostolic Church, have declined.

Both Father Sharshenidze and Parliamentary Budget and Finance
Committee Deputy Chairperson Chakhvadze strongly dismiss suggestions
that the government is trying to bribe the church with benefits and
financing. Chakhvadze pointed to the fact that money given to the
church is termed a "grant" as an indication of how seriously the
government takes the separation dictated by the constitution. The
funds are often also called a "subsidy."

Father Sharashenidze underlined that the Patriarchate is committed
to keeping its financial transactions with the government open and
transparent. Patriarchate accountant Lela Lomadze noted that parliament
must approve any change in the amount transferred to church projects
from the state budget. The church itself petitions the Ministry of
Finance for state funds; the ministry must then approve expenditures
before submitting the package to parliament as part of the proposed
state budget, Lomadze contended.

According to a Patriarchate copy of the budget, a Georgian Orthodox
university in the Western region of Ajara is the single largest
recipient of church funds this year — 3.2 million lari or $1.9
million. Juvenile shelters and homes for the elderly will receive
over 4.4 million lari or about $2.67 million. Remaining funds will
be distributed to church-associated schools, gymnasia, seminaries,
academies and institutes around the country. No payouts have been
made to individual churches or monasteries unless the institution
operates a shelter. Patriarchate accountants underlined that these
sums are tentative, and subject to change.

Monitoring how the funds are spent is cause for further
controversy. While critic Mindiashvili maintains that the transactions
are kept under wraps, the Patriarchate argues that every tetri,
present and square meter of land the church receives from the state
is registered and monitored by the Ministry of Finance.

A spokesperson for the ministry’s Chamber of Control, which monitors
state budget outlays, told EurasiaNet, however, that the law did not
allow the ministry to exercise such control.

Parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee Deputy Chairperson
Chakhvadze echoed that assessment. "The Georgian church is excluded
from that because we give a subsidy and the church itself decides
how to use the money," he said.

According to the Patriarchate’s spokesperson Father Sharashenidze,
those funds are taken in good faith. The church, he said, will accept
whatever it is offered as a sign of respect for the role it has played
in holding the country together throughout Georgia’s turbulent history.