Metropolitan Shio: Our brothers and sisters who died on April 9 made the greatest contribution to Georgia’s acquisition of independence, but independence requires preservation and development
“We must understand what true freedom is — the one that will be the guarantee of our country’s survival. If we want to preserve and develop our freedom, we must first work spiritually,” said the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, Shio (Mujiri), at the April 9 Memorial on Rustaveli Avenue.
According to him, we must repent, correct ourselves, and reflect on “what the sins of our people are that we must correct in order to receive God’s mercy and become worthy of our unity and the strengthening of the country.”
Metropolitan Shio emphasized that it is very important for our citizens to possess personal freedom as an inner quality.
“Our brothers and sisters who died on April 9 made the greatest contribution to the cause of acquiring Georgia’s independence, but the acquisition of independence requires preservation and development. For this, it is not enough to have only external conditions or only political independence. It is also very important that our citizens acquire personal freedom as an inner quality. If we do not have this quality, freedom gained only externally is not enough. We must understand what true freedom is — the one that will be the guarantee of our country’s survival. It is not simply doing whatever you want, but rather being able to govern yourself and do what is right and necessary. If we do not have this understanding, external freedom alone, without God’s law and moral law, can become dangerous and destructive both for the human soul and for the country.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, if we want to preserve and develop our freedom, we must first work spiritually. We must repent, correct ourselves, and reflect on what the vices and sins of our people are that we need to correct, so that we may receive God’s mercy and become worthy of our unity and the strengthening of the country.
Once again, let us remember our brothers and sisters who died on April 9. May God save their souls. May God bless, unite, and save Georgia. Amen!” Metropolitan Shio stated.
