TBILISI, Georgia - President Eduard Shevardnadze and the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church on Monday signed an agreement on church-state relations that includes provision for the church collecting damages from the government.
The agreement, which Shevardnadze and Patriarch-Catholicos Ilya II signed in Mtskheta, the site of Georgia's first church, acknowledges that the church suffered damages after Georgia lost its independence and recognizes state responsibility for paying partial compensation. A commission to set the amount of compensation and how it will be paid is to be created.
The document also states that church buildings, temples and ruins are property of the church and that religious items in state museums are considered joint property.