The Patriarchate of Georgia condemns violence, but considers that the action organized by the NGO "Identoba" had the provocative character. Special statement in connection with the events of May 17 has been done tonight in the Patriarchate of Georgia. As it was stated by spokesman for the Patriarchate of Georgia father Mikhail Botkoveli, the Patriarchate of Georgia expressed regret for the events on May 17, which followed the attempt of NGO "Identoba" to hold in Tbilisi a meeting which initially had the provocative character.

According to Michael Botkoveli, in a country where the majority of the population is Christian or follower of other traditional religions, such actions are perceived by the population as the promotion of homosexuality, that is righteous rebellion, especially since "nothing was taken into account by the organizers it was schedule a time and place of the action, which is in a strong emotional connection with historical memory and tradition and that became an additional factor for the disturbance”.

According to him, the country will not accept the legalization of the sin, but despite this, violence has no justification and the Patriarchate of Georgia unequivocally condemns the actions of the part of protesters, which came out beyond the law and beyond the behavior of believers.

At the same time, as it was claimed in the Patriarchate, it is very unfortunate that in these activities were involved the clergy and the actions of these individuals have caused damage to the whole Church. As it was noted by father Michael Botkoveli, the Patriarchate will examine the actions of those persons and will respond appropriately. However, he also said, that if not the proper actions of the majority of clerics and police officers, on May 17 we would have a much serious consequences.