Orthodox leader shuns Francis' Mass in Tiblisi
TBILISI, Georgia — Pope Francis’ efforts to improve relations with the Georgian Orthodox Church suffered a public setback Saturday after the patriarchate decided not to send an official delegation to his Mass and repeated that Orthodox faithful cannot participate in Catholic services.
In the run-up to Francis’ Caucasus visit, the Vatican spokesman had said the Orthodox Patriarchate would send a delegation to the Mass in a Tbilisi sports stadium “in a sign of the rapport between the two churches” — suggesting that the chill that had clouded the 1999 visit of St. John Paul II had warmed slightly.
But Orthodox patriarchate spokeswoman Nato Asatiani said Saturday that the delegation had stayed away “by mutual agreement.” The patriarchate updated a previous statement on its website saying that “as long as there are dogmatic differences between our churches, Orthodox believers will not participate in their prayers.”
The update apparently came after Francis’ arrival Friday in Tbilisi was met with protests of hardline Orthodox opposed to any ecumenical initiatives by their church.
“It’s typical proselytizing,” said Father David Klividze, who was among about 100 people protesting outside the stadium from the hardline Union of Orthodox Parents. “Can you imagine how it would be if a Sunni preacher came to Shiite Iran and conducted prayers in a stadium or somewhere else? Such a thing could not be. Therefore, we are speaking against this.”
Vatican spokesman Greg Burke confirmed the delegation’s absence, saying the Orthodox church law didn’t permit the presence of official church representatives at the Mass, where Francis had been scheduled to personally greet the delegation at the end of the Mass. Instead, Francis thanked “those Orthodox faithful” who were present.
Organizers had said they expected the Meshki sports stadium, capacity 27,000, to be full for the Mass, but only a few thousand people took their seats in the stands by the time Francis entered on his popemobile and began the celebration. There was no immediate explanation for the low turnout of Catholic faithful on the brilliantly sunny day.
Georgia is overwhelmingly Orthodox, with less than 3 percent of the population — or about 112,000 people — Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.
In his homily, Francis urged his faithful to find consolation in God and not be “saddened by the lack of harmony around us.”
“It is when we are united, in communion, that God’s consolation works in us,” he said.
Francis had received a surprisingly warm welcome from the Orthodox leader upon his arrival Friday for the three-day visit that also includes a stop in Muslim-majority Azerbaijan.
