Consecration of Mar Thoma the Apostle Assyrian - Chaldean Religious - Cultural Center in Gardabani
10.07.2023 / article / #events#gardabani

For Assyrians who have been living on the territory of Georgia for many centuries, the consecration of Mar Thoma the Apostle Assyrian - Chaldean  Religious - Cultural Center, which took place on July 10, 2023 in Gardabani, without exaggeration belongs to the number of those events that will go down in golden letters in the history of our people.

It was a very exciting, meaningful and emotional day for our community, especially for the local inhabitants. Many had tears in their eyes and this is not surprising, because not one generation of Assyrians was looking forward to this day.

The building itself is multifunctional and consists of a chapel and classrooms, various rooms where representatives of the local community will study native Aramaic language, history, culture, Oriental chants, as well as foreign languages. Our goal is to preserve our native language, ancient traditions and culture in every possible way.

The  festive consecration ceremony of Mar Thoma the Apostle Assyrian - Chaldean  Religious - Cultural Center in Gardabani was attended by:

H.E. Mar Thomas Meram – Archibishop of Urmia, Bishop of Salmas;

H.E. Mar Francis Yohana Kalabat – Bishop of St. Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Detroit (USA);

H.E. Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto – Apostolic Administrator of the Caucasus;

Msgr. Aliaksandr Rahinia – Diplomatic Counsellor to the Apostolic Nunciature;

Anahit Mkhoyan – Executive Director of “Caritas Georgia”

Mariam Alkhanashvili – Finance Manager of “Caritas Georgia”

Gaioz Kubaneishviili – Health Care Program Manager of “Caritas Georgia”

Liana Mkheidze – Project Design and Management Specialist of “Caritas Georgia”.

Also, guests from the USA, France, Iran and parishioners of Mar Shemmon Bar Sabbae Assyrian-Chaldean Catholic Church of Tbilisi.

We would like to thank whole heartedly our donors, without whose participation, the implementation of this project would have been impossible:

Chaldean Catholic Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle of Detroit (USA)

Renovabis – Charitable organization (Germany)

Kirche in Not – Charity organization (Germany)

Cnewa – Charity organization (USA)

Special thanks to H.E. Mar Francis Yohana Kalabat and  Fr. Manuel Boji (St. Thomas the Apostle Chaldean Catholic Diocese of Detroit).

In his closing speech, Chorbishop Benyamin Betyadgar thanked  parishioners of Tbilisi and Gardabani for their support and cooperation. Once again, we sincerely congratulate everyone on this significant event.