Georgian doctor of theology Mamuka Putkaradze expressed hope that the Georgian Orthodox Church will recognize the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine as soon as a consensus is reached on this issue. That is, when all bishops, and not the majority, will support the recognition of the OCU.
He said this in a comment for Dukhovny Front Ukrayiny.
"Those who oppose this, substantiate it by the fact that there is no unity in Ukraine yet. And this, allegedly, confuses them. In fact, these are lame excuses. Unfortunately, the fact that decisions in the Georgian church are made not by a majority vote, but by consensus – this delays this step. That is, for the decision to be made, everyone must be in favor. Otherwise, the decision will not be made," the Georgian theologian explained.
He also called on everyone to offer prayers to God for this to happen.
"Let's pray for the Georgian church to recognize the OCU. There are many supporters of this in the Georgian Church today."
The Moscow Patriarchate cannot influence this decision in any way, because they are trying to blackmail with stolen goods, "so their manipulations and intimidation are just words," Mamuka Putkaradze underscored.
He recalled how during his last visit, the head of the Department of Foreign Church Relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev), very openly hinted that Georgia might have problems due to the recognition of the OCU. "But I believe that he received a decent response from His Holiness the patriarch and from a number of clergy, including me, there were several articles on this issue," Putkaradze says.
"We do not consider their blackmail relevant. What can the Russian Orthodox Church do if the Georgian Church recognizes the Orthodox Church of Ukraine? Recognize the autocephaly of Abkhazia? Try to annex it? Well, this will be tantamount to the suicide of the Moscow Patriarchate. And they are well aware of this. They simply intimidate and try to blackmail the Catholicos-Patriarch. They (the ROC, - ed.) are trying to blackmail or intimidate something by hook or crook," he concluded.