On the occasion of the feast of Svetitskhoveli and the 1700th anniversary of the declaration of Christianity as the state religion in Georgia, the Patriarch will celebrate a service at the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

The service was attended by members of delegations from various local Orthodox churches and guests from abroad. After the service, the Patriarch addressed the third parish with a sermon.

The President and the Chairman of the Parliament spoke about the significance of today.

According to Shalva Papuashvili, the decision made 17 centuries ago played a fundamental role in the formation of the identity, culture and statehood of the Georgian nation:

“Today is a historic Svetitskhovloba. We are commemorating the date when, 1,700 years ago, our ancestors made a decision to embrace the true faith and embark on a path they traversed as if on their own Golgotha, never once deviating from it.

1,700 years ago, here, in this very place, King Mirian did not simply adopt a new religion; he embraced a new system of values and established a new cultural framework for himself and his people. Had it not been for the Christian cultural framework, we would not have had “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin”, we would not have had “Thou Art a Vineyard”, we would not have had Georgian polyphonic singing, and we would not have had Vazha-Pshavela and Ilia Chavchavadze. Without the Christian system of values, we would not be the nation we are today. Our generation has traversed its own Golgotha; at the same time, we are the generation that, by the will of the Lord and through human hands, witnessed a miracle that restored the Georgian Church from the ashes. For half a century, we have been witnesses to and participants in this miracle.

Therefore, on this day, we must especially remember our Holy Patriarch, Ilia II. Our generation has been granted the honour of celebrating 1,700 years of Georgia’s Christian statehood and of turning this page for future generations in the coming century. Our future generations will undoubtedly gather here, in this very place, 100 years from now to celebrate the 1,800th anniversary, and then another 100 years later, and so on, for as long as this world exists. This is our mission, our goal, and the spiritual purpose of our nation”, - said Shalva Papuashvili.