Georgian kings and princes frequently exchanged letters and embassies with the Holy See and there was a significant upsurge in Roman Catholic missionary efforts in Georgia in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The treaty, envisaging granting a Catholic church a legal status in Georgia, was to be ratified on September 20, 2003, and Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, then-Secretary for Relations with States, arrived in Tbilisi for this occasion.

The then-President of Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze, being absent at the CIS summit in Yalta, Ukraine, yielded to the pressure and made a last-minute decision not to sign the treaty, drawing criticism from the Holy See representatives, human rights activists, and liberal Orthodox clerics.

He met Pope Benedict XVI and later, attending a Catholic Christmas service in Tbilisi, thanked the Holy See for "steadfast support" to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

[4][5] On 30 September–1 October 2016, Pope Francis paid a two-day visit to Georgia, meeting President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II.