Moscow police conducted an inspection in the capital's Georgian temple

The only church in Moscow where divine services are held in the Georgian language is the church of St. Great Martyr and Victorious George in Georgia became the object of police checks on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 October. As with reference to, the representative of the Georgian Patriarchate, the referent of Metropolitan Daniil (Datuashvili) of Tskhum-Abkhaz, Mamuka Putkaradze reports Blagovest-info , "on Saturday, some time before the start of the evening service, a police squad drove up to the gates of the temple, which began to check the documents of all those entering church. Two choristers, after presenting their passports, were detained for an indefinite time, despite the presence of valid visas. In this regard, the service began with a delay of 15-20 minutes. Singers Malkhaz Simonashvili and Vissarion Pardzhanadze were released by the police only after the intervention of the clergy of the temple - the rector of the priest Theodore Krechetov and Deacon Miron Kandeladze.

O. Theodore told the agency correspondent that “he applied by phone to the Presnenskoye police department with a request to remove the patrol car from the temple, as this confuses believers. However, the car was in front of the gate for some time. The patrol car also appeared the next day on Sunday, when Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the church.

As told about. Theodore, the special attention of the Moscow police to the Georgian church "frightened" many believers: instead of the usual 300-400 people, about 50 people attended the Sunday liturgy.

Moreover, according to Mamuka Putkaradze, one Georgian family, who was going to bury their deceased relative in the church of the Great Martyr George, at the last moment decided to say goodbye to the deceased in another church.

To the questions of the clergy, what caused the interest of the police in the temple, the police officers answered that this was a routine check."

Sources

• Georgian church in Moscow became the object of police check // Blagovest-info. 2006. October 9.