Orthodox Christians Mark Easter

The Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi was the main site for Easter services in Georgia, where the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Ilia II, delivered a prayer attended by the Georgian leadership.

“This is a celebration of victory of a good over an evil; we should all remember that goodness is on the Georgian side and eventually the falseness and evil will definitely collapse and retreat and Georgia will prevail and gain victory,” President Saakashvili told journalists after attending the Easter service in the cathedral with his family.

Peter Semneby, EU’s special representative for South Caucasus, who is in Tbilisi amid ongoing opposition protests, was seen standing alongside with the Georgian officials holding a candle in the Holy Trinity Cathedral during the service.

Meanwhile, some opposition leaders from Movement for United Georgia, Conservative Party and Party of People hosted outdoor feast outside the presidential residence on Sunday, where the opposition keeps rallying for over a week already.

Ilia II, the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church, called on the authorities in his Easter epistle, to announce “tax amnesty” in an attempt to, as the epistle reads, help small and medium business amid the global economic crisis.

The epistle also calls for “deepening ties with neighboring countries.” “Dialogue between cultures should become a basis for that,” it reads.

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