We have taken note of the latest statements by the leadership of the Georgian Orthodox Church, in the person of Patriarch Shio III, made at the international symposium "God, Homeland, Man" dedicated to the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity by Georgia.
The statements about "ancient historical lands" and the calls to "reunite" South Ossetia with Georgia, wrapped in the familiar discourse of faith and brotherhood, are nothing other than a continuation of old political rhetoric in a new, spiritual packaging. The substitution of concepts and attempts to veil territorial claims with religious slogans do not in any way change reality.
Regrettably, the Georgian clergy, like the political figures, do not depart from the practice of using incorrect terminology with regard to the Republic of South Ossetia, calling it by the derogatory term "Tskhinvali Region." At the same time, the final documents of the negotiation process involving international structures, in which South Ossetia is present under its actual name, bear the signatures of authorised Georgian politicians.
Separately, it is worth dwelling on the thesis of the so-called ancient historical lands of Georgia in the context of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and recalling that historical facts speak to the contrary. This applies equally to the notion of a unified Georgia, which, in historiographical terms, represents an entity entirely different in form and content.
Without mentioning the victims and suffering endured by the civilian population of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and without expressing regret for the crimes committed by Georgian political regimes against the Ossetian and Abkhaz peoples, the Primate of the Georgian Church expresses the hope for the "restoration of fraternal unity and love."
In South Ossetia, people remember perfectly well how much grief the so-called fraternal Christian love of Georgia brought in the 1920s, in 1989–1992 and in 2008. Such "good intentions," against the backdrop of ignoring obvious facts, are unacceptable for South Ossetia.
13 October 2026