07 — Canonization 1987

The glorification of Ilia Chavchavadze in 1987 by the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church under Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II as Saint Ilia the Righteous — the act and the Church’s stated rationale — and the second of the collection’s two both-sides flagships: the discussion this canonization of a largely secular-public figure occasioned.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox

Eighty years after his death, the Georgian Church numbered Ilia Chavchavadze among the saints — an act at once natural to Georgian national-religious feeling and, in the eyes of some observers, remarkable, given how public and worldly a figure he had been. This section presents the act and the Church’s reasons accurately (§4.1) and holds open the discussion the canonization occasioned (§4.2). Two files:

  • The Act and the Rationale — the 1987 glorification: who canonized him, the title “the Righteous,” the feast on the day of the Prophet Elijah, and the Church’s stated grounds.
  • The Reception and the Debate — the both-sides flagship: the national-religious revival that framed the canonization, the scholarly discussion of a “cultural saint” made an ecclesial one, and the honest presentation of the questions it raised — without adjudicating.

Files

File Description
the-act-and-the-rationale.md The 1987 glorification; Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II; the title and feast; the Church’s stated rationale
the-reception-and-the-debate.md The reception and the discussion the canonization occasioned, held open per §4.2

See Also