Mijeil Saakashvil, President of the Republic, was present to participate in the first Eucharist of the Orthodox Church of Georgia celebrated in the Augustinian Recollect Church of St. Ildefonse and St. Thomas of Villanova in Rome, Italy. By means of this religious and ecumenical gesture, the Order of Augustinian Recollects provided an important social service to one of the most recent immigrant minorities to surface in Rome.
Mr. Saakashvil gratefully acknowledged the collaboration of the Order which, in this way, made possible the solution to a social problem common among the various immigrant groups coming the city. The president of the former Soviet republic joined in the first Eucharist of the Orthodox Church of Georgia celebrated on June 2. of this year. The Georgians are among the most recent migrant groups from Eastern Europe to Italy in the past two decades and since the independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
They had been searching for years for a church in which to celebrate their religious practices on a regular basis. They found what they were looking for in the Church of St. Ildefonse, a church which the Augustinian Recollects constructed in Rome between 1667 and 1672. The church was not ceded to the Orthodox group and the Recollects will continue with their celebration of two Masses each day as well as other celebrations on Sunday and Feast days. Now, however, with permission of the diocese of Rome, the church had become available to our Orthodox brothers and sisters in order that they may have a place where they can meet and where they can celebrate the Eucharist.
Working Women
At the entrance of the church, the prior of the religious community, Fr. Pablo Panedas, received the President and the latter expressed his appreciation for the warm welcome and for the accommodation afforded to the Georgian community. Also in his welcome address to the President, the orthodox priest, Fr. Ioanne, expressed his gratitude to the Augustinian Recollects. Again the President reiterated his gratitude as he addressed the congregation composed mostly of young and middle-aged women who work in Italy as care-givers and domestic helpers. He enjoined them to keep the practice of gathering together as a community and strengthen their identity and spirituality, saying: “The Georgians are weak when they are dispersed but strong and unbeatable when they are joined together.”