CEE Story From The Mission Field
Baptists in Georgia Face Another Vicious Attack
Febuary 2003
In yet another attack on the Central Baptist Church in Tbilisi, Georgia, led by Orthodox priest Basil Mkalavishvili, members of several Christian denominations were harassed, threatened, and beaten during a meeting of Ecumenical worship on Friday, January 24. This second attack comes after last February’s attack on the central warehouse for the church where hundreds of Bible’s were burnt under the shadow of a cross.
"Many people had been invited to this meeting including parliamentarians, politicians, academicians, diplomats, and representatives of all major Christian confessions in Georgia,” said Malkahz Songulashvili, president of the Evangelical Baptist Union. “Before all of these people arrived at the church, however, a group of ultra fundamentalist Orthodox, led by Mkalavishvili, started an attack on the church.”
After trying to defend the church by locking the gates, members of the church, on site to prepare for the worship service, were physically and verbally abused. Otar Kalatozishvili, deputy minister of the Central Baptist Church, was mercilessly beaten during the attack. After a meeting with the chief of police, it was agreed that the meeting would not be held and all protestors and church members and guests would leave.
"Mkalavishvili’s people pretended to leave the place, but instead they started beating our people and robbing them of their personal property,” said Songulashvili. “After the mob had left, the area police made the necessary investigations and we were able to continue with our service. This attack was an action not only against the Baptist Church, but against all Christian churches in Georgia.”
In spite of last year’s horrible attack on the Bible warehouse, Mkalavishvili and his group were never punished for their behavior, leading some to believe that this is only the beginning of a trend towards the ever-higher prevalence of state religions.
"Unfortunately, in many Eastern European countries where Orthodoxy is the main religion we can see the signs of state tolerance of the inequality of the various religions,” said Theo Angelov, general secretary of the European Baptist Federation. “The many new religious laws in countries such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Georgia, Serbia, Moldova, and Ukraine are clearly intended towards state interference in favor of the Orthodox church that strives at acquiring the status of a state church.”
Angelov asks all Christians to come together in prayer for our brothers and sisters in Georgia and other parts of Eastern Europe where the political and religious climate is changing dramatically.
“We appeal to all believers in Europe and around the world to pray for a spirit of peace and tolerance,” said Angelov. “We call on the churches in Europe to pray for Georgia and other countries in which religious intolerance is well rooted. We call all religious leaders to work hard for a better atmosphere in their own countries. Let us encourage our fellow Christians in the spirit of Christ’ s love and tolerance. Let us pray intercessory for our brothers and sisters in Georgia and other parts of the world where religious extremism is at its highest.”