Georgians have made a strange discovery in recent days. An icon of Joseph Stalin was spotted in Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral, the most important in the Caucus country's capital. "It's unbelievable," said Giorgi Kandelaki, a historian at the Laboratory for Research into the Soviet Past and former member of parliament. "The icon of Joseph Stalin, the initiator of the destruction of Georgia's independence, the murderer of thousands of clergymen and the creator of the Soviet totalitarian system, has been found in the Holy Trinity Cathedral. It's the triumph of Russian propaganda and the exploitation of Soviet memory."
The image, posted on social media, is causing a scandal in the former Soviet republic. Georgia is torn between a pro-European population and a pro-Russian government. Summoned to explain, the cathedral's priest, Iovane Mchedlishvili, did not hide his irritation. "It's not an icon," he grumbled. "It's a small image drawn by one of the painters, to which nobody has paid any attention, except journalists, who have made a big deal about it." Besides, he maintained, "the image has been there for several months, and it's not very visible." The Soviet dictator, who is not depicted as a saint, appears small inside of a larger representation of Saint Matron of Moscow. Saint Matron was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in the late 1990s.
Despite the public outcry, Andria Jagmaidze, head of the public relations department of the Patriarchate of Georgia, did not explain why Stalin was depicted. He simply pointed out that "there are precedents according to which even great persecutors of the Church can be found on icons."
The case took a new turn on Tuesday, January 9, when an activist vandalized the icon by spraying it with blue paint. After her act, Nata Peradze broadcast a video of the result, triggering the anger of activists with the pro-Russian Alt-Info group. Dozens of its members stormed her home. The police were deployed. On learning that the group's supporters were coming to her home, the activist reacted humorously on Facebook: "Alt-Info is coming, I'm cooking khachapuri," a typical Georgian dish.
The discovery of Stalin's representation in the church did not amuse Poland. Its embassy in Tbilisi recalled in a statement that "the number of Polish citizens who were victims of the Soviet regime [is] 1.8 million."
For his part, Kandelaki called on the EU and the US, Georgia's main financial backers, to react to the onslaught of Russian propaganda. "Every day that passes with this icon of Stalin in the main Georgian church is bad not only for the country but also for the EU's interests in the region." In December, Georgia was granted official candidate status for EU membership.
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