Address of His Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, read out by His Grace Vakhtang, Bishop of Nikortsmind, at the Solemn Meeting of the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, Bucharest, Saturday 28 October 2017:
Your Beatitudes,
I wholeheartedly greet you, every participant of the conference and the audience present.
The issue which is to be discussed at this convocation is cardinal, indeed, for it concerns the bygone days and once again reminds everyone that the martyrdom for the sake of Christ was not solely the glory that has gone down in history.
The policy of the Atheist regime, executed in many countries in the 20th-30th of last century, was the policy which took the lives of most of the clergy and lay people who sacrificed themselves for their faith.
And this should be set forth as the focal point of the discussion in order to remind everyone that it is beyond any doubt that sooner or later the way of life, which was imposed upon the people by the faithless, will collapse since that way of life is not innate for the human condition. It contravenes the sound reasoning and the objective which we human beings have been endowed with by the Lord, the goal which we all should aspire to attain.
May the souls of our deceased glorious ancestors intercede in prayers for us that we also could answer the challenges of our time and become worthy of being called the successors of those who accepted their martyrdom in the period of the Atheist regime.
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Foto Credit: Basilica.ro
