RELIGIOUS SITUATION IN MULTIETHNIC ENIRONMENT (CASE OF SAMTSKHE-JAVAKHETI)

TEA TATENASHVILI

TEA TATENASHVILI Ph.D. Student Samtskhe-Javakheti State University 0800, Akhaltsikhe, Georgia http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0165-7325

Abstract

The study describes the religious situation in Samtskhe-Javakheti. It specifies the challenges, problems and the relationship between the multi-ethnic groups and religious confessions in the region and tells the history of the region ethnic and religious situation, the causes and results of the existing perception of the religions in the region.

Nowadays the Orthodox Church, synagogue, mosque, Catholic Church, Armenian Apostolic Church coexist peacefully in Samtskhe-Javakheti. However, there was a time (2013-2019) when certain forces tried to provoke religious confrontations.

Study of the problem has a strategic importance for the country, as the study of co-existence experience of different ethnic and religious people for many centuries will support to adoption of human values and civic integration in the country considering the generally recognized right of religious freedom which helps to stability and development of state-oriented thinking.

It should be noted that the country faces the issue of religious tolerance, which occasionally appears. These problems are associated with a diverse environment. The Samtskhe-Javakheti region is one of the examples of such diversity.

The innovation is to provide information to the society that the trials of provoking religious confrontation fortunately was not turned into conflict, and it could be due to the historical and tolerance experience which is forgotten now and is considered as a stereotype.

Though the opposition did not turn into conflict with support of the state, Georgian Orthodox Church, as a dominant religious organization and the both parties of the confrontation, but it is not a final and long-term solution. It is necessary to evaluate all the recommendations and consideration the consequences of the mentioned developments.

For achievement the goals of the study, it was necessary to process available printed and electronic materials, study literature. Due to novelty and lack of literature, the information is available only in the newspaper articles, in the reports of public defender and the religious agency, or other non-governmental organizations.

Keywords: Samtskhe-Javakheti, religious situation, multiethnic environment, Orthodoxy, circumstance.