On May 17, the Georgian Orthodox Church held religious ceremonies to mark the Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents.
The Church organized processions and gatherings across Georgia, with a central procession in Tbilisi beginning at Kashveti Church on Rustaveli Avenue and concluding at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Irakli Kobakhidze, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili, the Parliament Speaker of Georgia, and Kakhi Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi, attended the event.
Speaking to reporters during the procession, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Prime Minister of Georgia, reaffirmed the government’s alignment with the Church, describing it as a “struggle for traditional values.” Kobakhidze stated, “The fight for traditional values continues. This struggle is not easy. There are powerful forces opposing these values, creating false ideologies and narratives. It is our duty and responsibility to stand alongside the Mother Church in defending our national values.”
Shalva Papuashvili, the Parliament Speaker of Georgia, characterized the event as a demonstration of resistance to external ideological pressure. Papuashvili emphasized, “This is a reflection and a response from the Georgian people against that artificial ideology which is being pushed not only on Georgia, but on different parts of the world.”
In a sermon at Kashveti Church, Metropolitan Shio, the Patriarch’s locum tenens, commended recent government legislation targeting the LGBT community, particularly a controversial legal package introduced in 2024.