The 2^nd International Symposium was opened in Tbilisi in November, 2005, in the conference hall of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The event was welcomed by His Holiness and Beatitude, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. A total number of 38 clergymen, 15 of whom were from abroad, took part in the symposium. The participants of the event represented Albania, Estonia, Great Britain, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Africa, Switzerland and the U.S.

 

The symposium focused on diverse questions: Christianity and nationality, Christianity and the state, Christianity and bioethics, Christianity and politics, Christianity on war and peace, Christianity and demographical problems, Christianity and ecological issues, etc.

 

The following cultural activities were held within the symposium framework: an exhibition of church embroidery, an exhibition of children’s paintings on religious themes.

 

The participants of the event pilgrimaged to the shrines of the Georgian church and monasteries Svetitskhoveli, Bodbe and Shiomghvime, and visited the State Museum and the gold treasury (the Gold Fund).