13:13, 12 November 2019

Georgian priests refuse funeral service for young man killed in road traffic accident

Ceremonial candles. Photo by Nina Tumanova for the "Caucasian Knot"

The Georgian Church refused relatives of a young man who was killed in a road traffic accident to carry out an Orthodox funeral service over him. The priests referred to the fact that the killed man was a member of another religious organization.

The young man was killed in the road traffic accident on November 5. The Georgian Church twice refused to carry out the funeral service and referred to a "Biblical Freedom" certificate issued for the deceased man, the "Girchi" Party reports on its website.

The ultra-liberal "Girchi" Party founded the religious organization "Biblical Freedom", which members got priest certificates from the party, the "Tbilisi News" reports. The "Girchi" Party stands for the abolition of compulsory service in the country's armed forces.

Meanwhile, according to the statement released by the "Girchi" Party, the Georgian patriarchy was provided with a letter stating that the deceased man's certificate was cancelled and "he was no longer considered a priest of the church."

However, priests of the Georgian Orthodox Church advise the relatives of the deceased young man to address the religious organization "Biblical Freedom" for the funeral service.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on November 12, 2019 at 08:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.