Georgian Orthodox Church: Russian counterpart's plans for opening Georgian parish in Paris "unacceptable"

The Georgian Orthodox Church has called "unacceptable" plans of the Patriarchate of Moscow to launch a Georgian parish in Paris under its wings, with a letter outlining the Georgian religious organisation's position on the subject released on Wednesday.

Metropolitan bishop Gerasime, serving as the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Section at the Patriarchate of Georgia, signs the letter addressed to Archbishop Jean of Dubna, Archdiocese of Russian Orthodox Churches in Western Europe, to express the concern, after earlier reports indicated the latter body planned to open a Georgian parish in the French capital.

In the official correspondence, the Georgian church's bishop notifies the head of the Russian organisation's head about a functioning Georgian church and parish in Paris, in operation since 2009 and led by archimandrite Anton.

The letter stresses the plans for launching the parish by the Russian church as "completely unacceptable" and expresses hope about a "timely" resolution of the "misunderstanding" between the two official bodies.

Reports about the Russian Orthodox Church's plans for launching a Georgian parish in Paris appeared in social media earlier in the week.