By Vestnik Kavkaza
The Pokrovskiye Vorota Cultural Center in Moscow held a Russian-Georgian meeting where the book “People of the Georgian Church” by Vladimir Luchaninov was presented. The book “People of the Georgian Church” tells about live Christianity, it consists of 9 interviews with our compatriots. Three metropolitans, a mother superior, a protopriest and laymen: a politician, a director and an architect share their retrospections. Each one has his own story of churching and own path. “People of the Georgian Church” is a book about modern church in stories of Georgian people.
Vladimir Luchaninov , the author, Editor-in-Chief of the Nikea Publishing Company, has told how he had come up with the idea of writing the book: “We were talking about the “Planet of Orthodox Christianity” series. The series was to include coverage of the life of modern Christians of Orthodox states: Greece, Serbia and Georgia. But when it came to Georgia, it turned out that the topic was the closest to all our editorial office, because we have a lot more connections with Georgia than any other nation, whether Orthodox or non-Orthodox, a nation within the framework of Russia or beyond. That is why in the Soviet times, especially for people who were born in the Soviet age and remember Georgia as part of the Union, for all us, Georgia has been a source of warmth, kindness, simultaneously a source of some constant bright, interesting, cultural phenomena. Because Georgians are creative people, and we have all grown up reading Georgian books, watching beautiful Georgian films. Who was there, who has relatives there, friends, would never forget the genuinely warm, human reception given to every guest. That is why it is natural that the book became the most dear, the most precious for us. And naturally, when the third book of the “Planet of Orthodox Christianity” appeared, we figured that it is something more than a book of the series. It is a project book that can indeed become a good basis to make all the hardships, all the historical traumas that have happened with our peoples in the past twenty years be coped with using the book, dialogue. And thus, all obstacles on the path of that brotherhood of ours would be weakened.”
Metropolitan of Akhalkalaki and Kumurdo, Nikolai, has said the following about the spiritual ties between Russia and Georgia: “It is impossible to break the ties connecting us, first of all, as Orthodox peoples, and secondly, as people who know, love each other. And that is why I think the church in this case and the public should play the decisive role. I think that this love should dominate over this misconception and evil impeding our relations. We are in the fullness of Orthodox Christianity, it is called sister-churches in church terms. In other words, we are in the most fraternal relations. It cannot be otherwise, because we are actually one church, inseparable. That is why we certainly solve clerical problems, and sometimes secular, political ones.”
