The Cult of Monk Gabriel: Institutionalization of Popular Religion and its Political Dimension in Georgia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22394/2073-7203-2016-34-2-226-254Keywords:
desecularization, monk Gabriel, popular religion, post-Soviet Georgia, politics and religion, Georgian Orthodox ChurchAbstract
Monk Gabriel (1929-1995) is one of the most popular religious personalities in modern Georgia. His sermons and prophecies became very popular in the early 1990s and still are to this date. The expanding Internet social networks added to his popularity. His name is connected with miraculous healings; his grave became a sort of a modern shrine in the Georgian Orthodox Church. The phenomenon is on the verge between official and popular religion. His name became a source of legitimation for the Church as well as for the political establishment. In 2012 the “strange monk” was canonized as a saint, in 2014 his body was reburied in the Sameba cathedral in Tbilisi, and an avenue was renamed after him. The whole phenomenon shows the changing and complex role of religion in post-communist Georgian society.Downloads
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