Georgian Patriarchate Condemns Use of Georgian Monk’s Name for Unit Fighting on Russian Side

The Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarchate has distanced itself from the use of the name of Gabriel Urgebadze, a prominent Georgian Orthodox monk canonized after his death, for a military unit fighting in the Ukrainian Donbas region on the Russian side, saying it was “utterly unheard-of” and “categorically unacceptable. ” The statement came after Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti reported , citing “Georgian public figure” Besik Danelia, that Georgian volunteers, as part of “a humanitarian mission” to the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic,” a self-proclaimed entity in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territory, handed over motorcycles and prayer rooms to Russian servicemen from the “St Gabriel Urgebadze unit” and the “Nevsky brigade.

” Earlier, in January, a Telegram channel of the “Military Unit of the Moscow Patriarchate” reported forming “a new Orthodox unit named after Gabriel Urgebadze” in the “zone of Special Military Operation”, Moscow’s term for Russia’s full-scale war on Ukraine, and consisting of ethnic Georgians. The reports drew condemnation from Andria Jagmaidze, Head of the Georgian Patriarchate’s Public Relations Department. Georgian Orthodox Church “distances itself from the fact that the name of the Venerable Gabriel, Confessor and Fool-for-Christ, is being used to justify or support military actions,” Jagmaidze was cited by the Church-run newspaper Sapatriarkos Utskebani (Patriarchate Bulletin) on September 9. Stressing that “Orthodox people are dying on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war,” which the Church watches “with great sorrow,” Jagmaidze raised concerns that the Patriarchate was not consulted about the use of the monk’s name. “At such a time, without any consultation with the Orthodox Church of Georgia or any regard for its opinion, we…