The Georgian Patriarchate asked to remove the image of Stalin from the icon
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Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) publicly appealed to the Alliance of Patriots of Georgia (APG) party with a request to “make changes” to the icon of the Matrona of Moscow, which the APG recently presented to the Tbilisi Cathedral.
We are talking, in particular, about removing the image of Joseph Stalin from the icon. The Generalissimo is presented in one of the episodes in the life and work of Blessed Matrona, who was canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church in 2004. According to legend, Joseph Stalin allegedly met with Matrona during the defense of Moscow in 1941.
“Since Joseph Stalin’s meeting with Saint Matrona, due to insufficient evidence, is not included in the canonical texts of her life and is not recognized by the Russian Orthodox Church, we consider it necessary to change this episode and take into account other details of icon painting,” the GOC statement says.
The day before, unknown persons doused the icon of Matrona with Moscow blue paint. According to unofficial information, civil activist Nata Peradze was accused of this. She herself does not admit guilt, but accuses the GOC of “glorifying a bloody tyrant” together with “a certain Russian matron.” At the same time, Ms. Peradze complained that religious fanatics tried to “arrange a lynching against her” and even “approached her apartment building,” but “the police did not let them through.”
APG leader Irma Inashvili, who donated the icon to the Church of the Holy Trinity, agreed with the need to make changes to the icon, that is, to remove the image of Joseph Stalin, but noted that the desecration of the icon still “should not go unpunished.”
The Ministry of Internal Affairs began an investigation under the administrative code article on petty hooliganism, but no charges were brought against Natya Peradze. The icon itself was not damaged – only the protective glass was filled with paint, which was quickly cleaned. The icon is installed in the most prominent place in the temple – near the main entrance.
The icon, painted by an unknown author commissioned by the APG, has a height of 1.2 m. In addition to the main image of the blessed Matrona, it includes ten fragments from the life of the saint.
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