Honorable state officials, public figures, spiritual brothers, dear brothers and sisters, let me greet you on behalf of the clergy and the faithful of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia; we raise our prayers to God for your good health, longevity, peace and salvation.

The establishment of the State Agency for Religious Issues in 2014 has played a big role in outlining ways to deal with the issues, which have accumulated in religious organization in Georgia. Government has made a significant step in integration into the European family, as new Georgian authorities attend to the religious entities issues and devote particular attention to them. The Georgian state expressed its readiness to return mosques to Muslims, synagogues – to the Jewish community, houses of worship - to the Christian communities. Through the allocated government funds for compensation of damages inflicted by the Soviet Union, the Armenian Diocese in Georgia was granted the opportunity to expand the scope of its spiritual, cultural and educational activities. The Agency expands its activities every day, which inspires confidence in religious entities in Georgia. Partial compensation of damages inflicted upon religious communities during the Soviet regime should be noted. The aforementioned steps contributed to an increase of political trust in the state and opened new avenues for cooperation. We highly appreciate the respective approach of the Georgian state to the issues of religious organizations.
It is our hope that the issue, concerning the restitution of property that has been confiscated from the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in Georgia during the Soviet period, will be successfully settled.
The government has begun to pay more attention to the Armenian historical monuments. There has been some visible progress in this regard. This is strongly exemplified in restoration works of the St. Norashen Church, financed by former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, as a result of cooperation between the Armenian Diocese in Georgia, the Georgian state and the Georgian Patriarchate. We strongly believe that this cooperation will bring great results.
We want to assure on behalf of the Armenian Diocese in Georgia that we will continue our cooperation with the Agency and the head of the Agency, Mr. Zaza Vashakmadze, remaining faithful to our principles of mutual trust and cooperation.
We offer our prayers for a peaceful and secure life in Georgia. Let the religious entities and ethnic minorities living in Georgia in peaceful cooperation continue to create a safer and more prosperous future for the country inherited from our ancestors.