Recent statements by Georgian Dream and Bidzina Ivanishvili have raised suspicions that the ruling party plans to declare Orthodox Christianity the state religion, making this one of the axes of the pre-election campaign. However, the Georgian Patriarchate appears to be opposed to the proposed constitutional changes, fearing that they would increase government control over the Church.

"Georgian Dream MP Beka Odisharia told reporters: 'I cannot confirm to you whether Georgian Dream plans to declare [Orthodoxy] the state religion or not. This is a very sensitive issue," he said, reacting to the widespread information that the leadership team had proposed declaring Patriarchal Orthodoxy the state religion. According to him, there has been no talk of mediation and no concrete presentation of any kind of concept.
The status of the state religion will turn the Church into an institution subordinate to the state, where the government will have the right to control everything, including personnel decisions, commented Pikria Chikhradze, a member of Strong Georgia, on the social network. According to him, hopefully the clergy and the Patriarchate are fully aware of the situation created and the danger behind this offer.

"The campaign to declare Orthodoxy the state religion was initiated by some political groups at the end of the last century. Then, with the cooperation of the Church and the State, with the active participation of the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, a position was formed which was soon signed in the form of a constitutional agreement between the State and the Orthodox Church.
I was also involved in the parliamentary commission that dealt with these issues. The then Speaker of Parliament, Zurab Zhvania, who was practically involved in day-to-day activities, made a great contribution to resolving the issue. A long and fundamental work was carried out with the participation of the clergy, and we agreed on a model that would create a wide opportunity for cooperation between the state and the church, while at the same time completely separating them institutionally and ensuring non-interference in the church's activities.

The Constitutional Agreement is the domestic normative act at the highest level in the hierarchy of laws, which gives the Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia a special status, ensuring its independence and protection from political interference. At the same time, this agreement is fully compatible with freedom of belief and religion," the politician argued.

On 27 August, a working meeting was held in the Patriarchate under the chairmanship of Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, Chairman of the Patriarchate. At the meeting, the planned constitutional changes concerning relations between the Church and the state were discussed. According to the representative of the Press Service of the Patriarchate, the Patriarchate has not yet received the offer to declare it the state religion at the official level, although the offer may have been at the unofficial level and was discussed at the meeting. The representative of the press service of the Patriarchate also noted that the Church has not yet made a final decision and that the Synod meetings are planned for the future.