Your All Holiness, Bartholomew I, Archbishop of
Constantinople New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch!
Once again, we would like to confirm our most humble
disposition and deepest gratitude to You. We have returned to Georgia, delighted
with the wonderful encounters that we have been through thanks to your
blessings in Constantinople. Every word that came from you, a truly good
shepherd, was full of hope, joy and a clear example of modesty. We are
especially grateful for your in-depth knowledge of the issues of our country and
its occupied part Abkhazia, and for sharing your visions of solving the
problems. I am grateful for the opportunity to present you my book
"Georgian Paradigm of Peace" that has been written in order to understand
and activate the unique potential of new peace policy, namely, the university
diplomacy.
It was crucial to visit the Halki Theological School and
meet Reverend Kassianos thanks to your blessings. We talked about interesting and, I would say, indispensable
future projects and, through God’s help and your prayers, we hope to implement
them, which will contribute to the rapprochement and cooperation between Halki Theological
School and Sukhumi State University.
Let me express our deepest gratitude to Metropolitan Joachim
of Bursa, who showed special warmth towards Georgia, the Georgian diaspora in
Turkey and the Georgian parish in Istanbul, which is headed by our compatriot, Archimandrite
Ilia (Jinjolava). We would like to let you know that we are glad to have such a
worthy leader for the Georgian parish and, once again, we thank you for this.
As agreed upon, filled with joy, we are beginning preparations
for the most important day, when we have the honor of handing you the honorary
doctorate diploma of Sukhumi State University. I will inform you about the plan
of the event in the nearest future. We are also starting to prepare the
editorial team for the Georgian translation of the anniversary book, dedicated
to you.
And finally, we confirm our greatest respect, and we
kindly ask you to pray for us and for the unity of Georgia. I assure your
Holiness that my wife and I, and of course all other members of the delegation,
will never forget this blessed encounter with you. These unique emotions and
joy will stay with us all our lives and they will give us strength to carry on.
We ask our most merciful Lord Jesus Christ and the
All-Holy Mother of God for your health and long life.
Most Humbly and Sincerely,
Professor Zurab Khonelidze,
Rector of Sukhumi State University,
President of the Academy of Educational Sciences,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia.
Tbilisi
August 5, 2022