The responsibility for the incident, among others, should be placed first of all on the organizers of Tbilisi Pride, reads the statement of the Patriarchate.

“The Georgian Patriarchate, of course, is very concerned that people were injured, most of all journalists. This is a very sad fact. We pray for them and hope they will recover soon.

We have made statements for peace before and today, and we believe that violence is unacceptable and condemnable, no matter whom it comes from; That is why we will have a proper response to the clergy who incite violence, if there are any.

We do not rule out the possibility that there were people among those on Rustaveli Avenue who were deliberately committing illegal actions.

This Pride planned for July 5 was a propaganda of an untraditional lifestyle and contained signs of moral, psychological and ideological violence against our population and the next generation, which in itself would inevitably provoke a sharp reaction.

We warned the embassies about this and asked them to refrain from supporting the rally in order to avoid the expected disturbance and controversy for the country. Unfortunately, the opinion of both us and the people was ignored…

The responsibility for what happened, among others, should be placed first of all on the organizers of Tbilisi Pride, who, regardless of the reality in the country, first planned and then did not reject the event, thus putting Western values ​​at risk of discrediting”, - reads the statement.