Patriarchate reassigns anti-Government archimandrite Kurashvili

The Georgian Patriarchate has announced that Archimandrite Dorothe (Kurashvili) has been relieved of his duties as priest-in-charge of the Nativity of Christ Church in Lower Bethlehem and reassigned as a serving cleric at the Holy Trinity Patriarchal Cathedral, effective 29 October.

According to the Patriarchate, the decision followed a petition by the diocesan commission, which cited Kurashvili’s alleged “disregarding the commission, insulting its members, and again failing to appear without a valid reason.”

The Church said the priest did not attend a scheduled hearing on 16 October, for which he received a strict warning. He was summoned again on 29 October, but insisted he would only take part if journalists were allowed to attend - a condition the commission rejected as “unprecedented and unacceptable.” He then declined to enter the meeting.

The Patriarchate also accused Kurashvili of making offensive and defamatory remarks toward the ecclesiastical hierarchy and provided several examples in its statement.

Kurashvili, who has frequently spoken at anti-government, pro-European protests, said the measures against him were motivated by his public criticism of what he describes as Russian influence in both the State and the Church.

“My ‘crime’ is that I say Russia still feeds on our blood, and that a small group in the Patriarchate serves Moscow’s plan,” he told reporters outside the Patriarchate building. “They cannot take away what I am.”

The commission was chaired by Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, the Patriarchal locum tenens, and included senior bishops and priests.