Religion in Georgia (country)
The wide variety of peoples inhabiting Georgia has meant a correspondingly rich array of active religions in the country.
[1] Adherents of Islam made up 10.7% of the population[2] and are mainly found in the Adjara and Kvemo Kartli regions and as a sizeable minority in Tbilisi.
Catholics of the Armenian and Latin churches made up around 0.8% of the population and were mainly found in the south of Georgia and a small number in Tbilisi.
[4] Jewish communities exist throughout the country, with major concentrations in the two largest cities, Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
Azerbaijani groups have practiced Islam in Georgia for centuries, as have Adjarians and some of the Abkhazians concentrated in their respective autonomous republics.
The country has a total area of approximately 67,000 square kilometres (25,900 sq mi), and a population (as of 2014[update]) of 3.7 million people.
[5] Under Soviet rule (1921–1990), the number of active churches and priests declined sharply and religious education became nearly nonexistent.
Islam is prevalent among Azerbaijani and north Caucasus ethnic communities in the eastern part of the country and also is found in the regions of Adjara and Abkhazia.
Judaism, which has been present since ancient times, is practiced in a number of communities throughout the country, especially in the largest cities, Tbilisi and Kutaisi.
Approximately 8,000 Jews remain in the country, following two large waves of emigration, the first in the early 1970s and the second in the period of perestroika during the late 1980s.
Georgians remained mostly Christian despite repeated invasions by Muslim powers, and long episodes of foreign domination.
Soviet rule brought severe purges of the Georgian church hierarchy and frequent repression of Orthodox worship.
In 1988 Moscow permitted the patriarch to begin consecrating and reopening closed churches, and a large-scale restoration process began.
The ruling party branded this initiative as part of their commitment to uphold "national values and traditions," in line with their campaign promises to ban "LGBT propaganda" and reinforce the role of the Church.
[22] In contrast, the Georgian Orthodox Church has expressed skepticism, fearing that such a change could compromise its independence and increase government control.
High-ranking clergy members, including Metropolitan Shio Mujiri and Metropolitan Nikoloz Pachuashvili, have raised concerns about the potential implications of this proposal, arguing that it could alter the traditionally independent yet cooperative relationship between the state and the Church established by the 2002 Concordat.
