ABSTRACT
The Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) organisation has 15 departments, which focus on a wide range of areas from missionary work to finance, economy, real estate, ecology and military. This chapter focuses on historical and political contexts that shaped the GOC as an organisation over time. The GOC’s organisation is headed by Patriarch Ilia, while the administrative–operational part is conducted by the office of Patriarchate. The GOC operates between seven to nine orphanages, which house between 1,200 to 1,500 children. Due to the Constitutional Agreement between the Georgian state and the GOC, the state institutions have no access to church’s organisations. Georgia boasts its own unique language and a rich Christian tradition, and is in fact one of the oldest Christian nations; its connection to Christian culture dates to the third and fourth centuries. The great revival of Georgian Orthodoxy dates back to King Vakhtang I Gorgasali under whom the church began to flourish.
