Freedom of religions in Georgia is provided for by the country's constitution, laws, and policies. In practice, the Georgian government generally respects religious freedom; however, the Georgian Orthodox Church enjoys a privileged status in terms of legal and tax matters, involvement in public schools, and property disputes. There have been efforts by private citizens, local government officials, and local Georgian Orthodox Church leaders to harass and persecute members of minority religious groups and interfere with their worship activities; despite calls for tolerance and respect for pluralism by government leaders, the Georgian central government has not been successful in preventing such incidents.

In 2023, the country was scored 2 out of 4 for religious freedom. It was noted that religious minorities have reported discrimination and that members of the clergy have been surveilled by the State Security Service.Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-03

History

Christianity has been the predominant religious influence in the territory comprising present-day Georgia since at least the fourth century A.D., when Nino of Cappadocia, the daughter of a Roman general, is said to have preached in Kartli (present-day eastern and southern Georgia; also known as Iberia) and to have been responsible for the conversion of the king and queen and their family. Christianity in Kartli was initially organized under the jurisdiction of the Church of Antioch, but in the late 5th century, a catholicos (chief bishop) was appointed for the city of Mtskheta, giving the church in the kingdom a degree of local autonomy.Grdzelidze, Tamara. "Georgia, Patriarchal Orthodox Church of". In A united Georgian kingdom - comprising both Kartli and Colchis (present-day western Georgia) - had taken shape by 1008 under Bagrat III. In 1010, the church in the unified Kingdom of Georgia became autocephalous (self-governing), and its catholicos (Melchizedek I) was elevated to the rank of patriarch and obtained the official title of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.

From the 13th through the 18th centuries, Georgia was invaded numerous times by Mongols, Ottomans (Turks), and Safavids (Persians), and the Kingdom of Georgia became fragmented by the end of the 15th century.Rapp, Stephen H. Jr. "Georgian Christianity". In A notable Christian martyr of this period was Ketevan of Mukhrani, a queen who was tortured to death in 1624 after refusing demands by the Safavid ruler (Abbas I) to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam.

In 1801, the kingdoms of present-day eastern and central Georgia were occupied and annexed by the Russian Empire. The Russian authorities abolished the independent status of the Georgian church and made the region subject to the Russian Orthodox Church; the use of the Georgian language in the liturgy was suppressed, and many church buildings in Georgia were defaced and fell into disrepair.Rapp (2010), p. 150. The Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) reasserted its autocephaly after the overthrow of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917,Rapp (2010), p. 151. but the Georgian church was subjected to renewed harassment in the 1920s and 1930s by the newly created Soviet Union, during the rule of the Georgian-born Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin.Rapp (2010), p. 152.

As part of Stalin's efforts to unite the Soviet citizenry against the Nazi threat during World War II, state-sponsored persecution of religion was somewhat eased, and the GOC's independence from the Russian church was once again formally recognized in 1943. Restrictions on religious organizations returned after the end of the war, and the general corruption which plagued the leadership of the Georgian SSR in the early 1970s affected church officials in Georgia. When Ilia II became patriarch of the GOC in 1977, he moved to rejuvenate the church, directing the renovation of derelict churches, as well as construction of new churches. The GOC joined the World Council of Churches (WCC) in 1962, and Ilia II served as president of the WCC between 1979 and 1983.

The GOC's power and prestige in Georgian society increased significantly after Ilia II's installation as patriarch in 1977. In 1990, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople (the "first among equals" of the Eastern Orthodox prelates) formally recognized the autocephaly of the GOC and affirmed Ilia II's title of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.Grdzelidze (2011), p. 274.

Law and policy Article 9 of the current Constitution of Georgia provides for complete freedom of belief and religion. It also recognizes the "special role ... in the history of Georgia" of the Georgian Orthodox Church, but stipulates that the GOC shall be independent of the state. A special Concordat (legal agreement) between the Georgian state and the GOC was ratified in 2002, giving the GOC a special legal status and rights not given to other religious groups - including legal immunity for the Georgian Orthodox Patriarch, exemption from military service for GOC clergy, and a consultative role in education and other aspects of the government.

In 2003, an effort by the Roman Catholic Church to negotiate its own concordat with Georgia failed after the government yielded to pressure from the GOC leadership and public demonstrations said to have been organized by the GOC. In July 2011, the Georgian parliament enacted legislation allowing religious organizations to register as "legal entities of public law", a status closer to that held by the GOC; the leadership of the GOC criticized this proposed law and made an unsuccessful effort to influence the parliament not to adopt it, predicting that "the law will cause negative consequences soon, and the state will be responsible for it". Prior to this 2011 change, religious groups other than the GOC had only been allowed to register as "noncommercial legal entities of private law" - a status (similar to that of a charitable foundation or an NGO) which some churches considered unacceptable and refused to apply for. Public debate over the new law included concerns that the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) would use the new, improved status to renew challenges over the ownership of numerous churches claimed by both the GOC and the AAC.

Many churches other than the GOC have experienced difficulty in their attempts to regain property which was confiscated during the Soviet-era crackdown on religion - especially in cases where property disputes involved conflicting claims by the GOC and other religious groups. During 2012, Roman Catholic and Armenian Apostolic church officials suggested that Georgian government officials involved in resolving property disputes were fearful of offending Orthodox constituents if they ruled in favor of other churches and against the GOC. Cases were also reported in 2012 of Jehovah's Witnesses being denied alternatives to military service (which they had refused to perform on grounds of conscience); of Seventh-day Adventists being refused alternative dates for school examinations scheduled for Saturday; and Muslims and Jews being denied worship facilities or faith-specific dietary accommodations in prisons.

In 2012, Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili made public statements recognizing the religious contributions of Roman Catholics, Armenian Apostolics, and Azeri Muslims, saying that he was "proud that we are making a unified state where representatives of all cultures, confessions, and ethnicity feel themselves as equal children of the country". Later in the same year, newly elected prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili met with Jewish groups, celebrating Shabbat and Hanukkah and stating that he was "committed to making Georgia a place where all Georgians, regardless of their faith, are treated equally and with respect".

During the 2024 Georgian parliamentary election the Georgian Dream announced the prospect of a constitutional amendment designating Orthodox Christianity as the state religion. The ruling party branded this initiative as part of their commitment to uphold "national values and traditions," in line with their campaign promises to ban "LGBT propaganda" and reinforce the role of the Church.

In contrast, the Georgian Orthodox Church has expressed skepticism, fearing that such a change could compromise its independence and increase government control. High-ranking clergy members, including Metropolitan Shio Mujiri and Metropolitan Nikoloz Pachuashvili, have raised concerns about the potential implications of this proposal, arguing that it could alter the traditionally independent yet cooperative relationship between the state and the Church established by the 2002 Concordat. Abkhazia

The disputed region of Abkhazia is claimed by Georgia as part of its sovereign territory, but it has been entirely outside Georgia's effective control (and ruled instead by a de facto separatist government) since the early 1990s. Following the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Abkhazia gained formal recognition as an independent state by Russia and a small number of other nations, though the United Nations (UN) and most of the international community still consider it to be part of Georgia. As a consequence of a 1992-1993 war with Georgia, most ethnic Georgians originally living in Abkhazia were either expelled or killed.

Approximately 60% of Abkhazians identify themselves as Christians - most being either Eastern Orthodox or Armenian Apostolic adherents. The GOC has lost effective control over church operations in Abkhazia, and the organizational vacuum has been filled by a new Abkhazian Orthodox Church, which is recognized by the government of Abkhazia, but not by the GOC or the Russian Orthodox Church, which still consider the church in Abkhazia to be under the jurisdiction of the GOC. The GOC is not able to travel to Abkhazia and few GOC worshippers in Abkhazia are able to travel to Tbilisi as only a few ethnic Georgians had passports issued by the Abkhazia authorities.

Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Lutherans have been allowed to operate in Abkhazia. Jehovah's Witnesses are officially banned, although they are allowed to assemble in Akhalgori.

Samatchablo (Tskhinvali Region)

The disputed region of Tskhinvali is also claimed by Georgia, but much of South Ossetia came under the de facto control of a separatist government following a 1991-1992 war. Georgia's 2008 war with Russia left the territory completely under separatist control, and South Ossetia has subsequently been recognized as an independent state by Russia and a small number of other nations, but not by the UN or most of the international community.

Both Orthodox churches formally recognise the Orthodox churches in South Ossetia as belonging to the GOC; GOC representatives have reported that de facto authorities in South Ossetia continued to pressure the local GOC to merge with the ROC. Jehovah's Witnesses in the area are not officially recognized.

Societal attitudes The overwhelming majority of the modern Georgian population identifies with the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) - between 83 and 86 percent of the population, according to various polls. Muslims represent 9-10% of the population, and adherents of the Armenian Apostolic Church comprise about 4%. There are also much smaller numbers of followers of various other religions, including Roman Catholics, Jews, and numerous non-traditional recent arrivals to Georgia (such as Baptists, Pentecostals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and Latter-day Saints). Religious affiliation is strongly correlated with ethnicity, with most ethnic Georgians affiliating with the GOC. In 2012, about 45% of the Georgian population attended some sort of religious services at least once a month.