Georgia is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world, and one where religion often mixes with politics. It is no surprise, then, that religion is being invoked on both sides in the fight over the contentious “foreign agents” bill, which has sparked weeks of mass protests across the country.
The bill, if passed, would require organizations receiving more than 20 percent of their annual funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents.” The government claims it is a measure designed to promote transparency, but many Georgians believe it is a tool intended to muzzle voices critical of the ruling party ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for this fall.
A 2021 report published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace described the Georgian Orthodox Church as “one of the most trusted institutions in Georgia.” So far, the church’s hierarchy is siding with the Georgian Dream-dominated government on the “foreign agents” bill. From the church’s perspective, it is all about resistance to change.
In a statement issued April 27, the patriarchate warned that dangerous foreign ideologies are increasing polarization in society. “We do not expect help from anyone in ideological matters, we do not even need it,” the statement reads. “We note that the government has clearly taken the path of protecting traditional values.”
Georgian Dream leaders have also attempted to frame the foreign agents bill as a matter of protecting national sovereignty and traditional values. Speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary on April 25, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze conflated the ruling party’s supposed fight against pernicious foreign ideas and efforts to preserve the country’s distinctive orthodox identity. “We Georgians had to fight for centuries to protect our faith, Christianity,” he said.
It is no coincidence that, in addition to the foreign agents bill, Georgian Dream is simultaneously trying to pass legislation banning “LGBTpropaganda,” which it sees as another manifestation of disruptive Western influence.
Religious considerations are also being voiced by opponents of the foreign agents legislation, the adoption of which, they insist, will scuttle Georgia’s constitutionally mandated obligation to strive for European Union membership. High-ranking priests have joined the opposition. One, Archbishop Zenon Iarajuli, a cleric whom one Georgian media outlet characterized as a “marginalized” figure in Church politics, penned a commentary denouncing the bill.
Iarajuli contended that the bill, if enacted, would hurt civil society organizations – including the Georgian Orthodox Church, whose operations could fall under the purview of the law. “The content of the draft law ‘On the transparency of foreign influence’ and the presented registration wording create the danger of stigmatizing citizens and non-governmental organizations … (including the church),” he wrote.
It seems like Iarajuli is not the only one worried about the law’s potential impact on religious organizations in Georgia. For an April 25 article, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association interviewed Anahit Mkhoyan, the head of Georgia’s branch of Caritas Internationalis, an international network of Catholic development agencies. She said that she was worried that the group’s funding structure – in which 68 percent of funding comes from international donors – would end up disrupting its ability to deliver much-needed services, if the bill becomes law.
“[These] funds are directly going to the service of the poor,” she was quoted as saying. “We take care of the Georgian people, we take care of Georgia’s children, we take care of poor areas of Georgia. Basically, we invest all this money into the work that needs to be done.”
