Freedom of religions in Georgia is provided for by the country's constitution, laws, and policies. In practice, the Georgian government generally respects religious freedom; however, the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys a privileged status in terms of legal and tax matters, involvement in public schools, and property disputes. There have been efforts by private citizens, local government officials, and local Georgian Orthodox Church leaders to harass and persecute members of minority religious groups and interfere with their worship activities; despite calls for tolerance and respect for pluralism by government leaders, the Georgian central government has not been successful in preventing such incidents.
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia, commonly known as the Georgian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Georgia, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with the other churches of Eastern Orthodoxy. It is Georgia's dominant religious institution, and a majority of Georgian people are members. The Orthodox Church of Georgia is one of the oldest churches in the world. It asserts apostolic foundation, and that its historical roots can be traced to the early and late Christianization of Iberia and Colchis by Andrew the Apostle in the 1st century AD and by Saint Nino in the 4th century AD, respectively. As in similar autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, the church's highest governing body is the holy synod of bishops. The church is headed by the Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, who was elected in 1977.
Ilia II, also transcribed as Ilya or Elijah, is the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church. He is officially styled as "Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan Bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II."
St. Ambrosius was a Georgian religious figure and scholar who served as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1921 to 1927. Best known for his opposition to the Soviet regime, he was canonized in 1995 by the Georgian Orthodox Church as Saint Ambrosius the Confessor.
Grigol Peradze was a prominent Georgian ecclesiastic figure, philologist, theologian, historian, and professor of patristics in the interwar period.
Gregorio Pietro XV Agagianian was an Armenian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the head of the Armenian Catholic Church from 1937 to 1962 and supervised the Catholic Church's missionary work for more than a decade, until his retirement in 1970. He was considered papabile on two occasions, in 1958 and 1963.
The Sioni Cathedral of the Dormition is a Georgian Orthodox cathedral located in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Following a medieval Georgian tradition of naming churches after specific places in the Holy Land, the Sioni Cathedral bears the name of Mount Zion at Jerusalem. It is commonly referred to as the "Tbilisi Sioni" to distinguish it from other churches in Georgia with the same name.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi, commonly known as Sameba, is the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church located in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. Constructed between 1995 and 2004, it is the third-tallest Eastern Orthodox cathedral in the world and one of the largest religious buildings in the world by total area. Sameba is a synthesis of traditional styles dominating the Georgian church architecture at various stages in history and has some Byzantine undertones.
Christophorus III was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1927 until his death.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Georgia. The wide variety of peoples inhabiting Georgia has meant a correspondingly rich array of active religions in the country.
In 2020, 85.84% of the population in Georgia adhered to Christianity, 11% were Muslim, 0.1% were Jewish, 0.04% were Baháʼí and 3% had no religious beliefs. Other religious groups include Jehovah's Witnesses and Yazidis. Orthodox churches serving other non-Georgian ethnic groups, such as Russians and Greeks, are subordinate to the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Norashen is a non-functioning Armenian Apostolic church in Tbilisi, Georgia. It is located in the old town, near Sioni Cathedral and Jvaris Mama Church.
Melchizedek III was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1952 until his death. His full title was His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
Ephraim II was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1960 until his death. His full title was His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
David V (Georgian: დავით V, born as Khariton Devdariani was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from July 2, 1972, until his death. His full title was His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
Khoren I Muradbekian was an Armenian Apostolic religious figure who served as Catholicos of All Armenians from 1932 until his murder in 1938. He previously served as locum tenens, between 1923 and 1932, in the latter years of and after the death of Catholicos Gevorg V, and bishop of Yerevan from 1910 to 1924.
The Skhalta Cathedral is a Georgian Orthodox monastery and cathedral church in Adjara, Georgia, dating from the mid-13th century. It is a large hall church design, with fragments of the 14th or 15th century Paleologian-style wall painting.
Anton II the Great Martyr, born Prince Royal Teimuraz, was a member of the Georgian royal family and churchman. A son of Heraclius II, the penultimate King of Kartli and Kakheti, he was the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia from 1788 to 1811.
Domentius II was a Georgian churchman and the Catholicos Patriarch of Georgia who presided over the Georgian Orthodox Church from c. 1595 to 1610. Like his predecessors, Domentius pushed for the efforts to aggrandize the church's land properties and restore the holdings that had earlier been lost to secular noble landlords. Some historians such as Kalistrate Salia consider this Domentius to have been the same person as the earlier Catholicos Domentius I, who might have occupied his office twice, with a significant gap of nearly four decades.
Sergo Vardosanidze is a Georgian historian. He serves as the Professor and Rector of the Saint Andrew the First-Called Georgian University of the Patriarchate of Georgia.
