Christmas Service as a Group Therapy – Peace Cathedral, 2025
On the night of Christmas, The Peace Cathedral once again became a place of hope and celebration of diversity. After another year full of turmoil not only in Georgia but everywhere in the world, this Christmas service carried importance larger than ever. Nene, little girl who sang Christmas carols at the service, who has been coming to the Christmas celebrations since she was 4, described the eve to her grandmother in the following words: “They took us in like refugees, grandma”. And indeed, it was a place of refuge for people who have spent more than 360 days in protest, endangering their health, facing fines and imprisonment, it was a place of refuge for people seeking a sign of light, in the world that seems this dark.
The Cathedral was filled to the brim, alive with people – mostly young people – and it was deeply moving to see so many generations and walks of life gathered under one roof. Among them were many international visitors from the Middle East, Britain, and across Europe. We were also joined by Muslim clergy and laity (both Sunni and Shia), progressive Jewish participants, and members of the Yazidi community, all connected through the Peace Cathedral’s peace project. Their presence gave the celebration a truly global, interfaith, and inclusive character—a quiet yet powerful witness to coexistence.
As part of the Liturgy of the Word, portions of the Nativity story were read mainly by native speakers in multiple languages: Greek, Hebrew, German, Arabic, Georgian, English, Ukrainian, Russian, and Ossetian. Hearing the familiar story unfold in so many tongues powerfully embodied the universality of the Gospel.
Bishop Malkhaz Songhulashvili shared the Christmas sermon. He explained how important it is today to celebrate light, to choose light – not because the darkness has disappeared, but because however strong the darkness might seem, it will be always defeated by light. “This Christmas comes in the world filled with fear, with injustice and cruelty . . . and Christmas reminds us that in each and every human being, there is a spark of light”. We were reminded that believing in light is ever more important in the times filled with seemingly endless darkness.
During the service, a famous song “Hallelujah” was performed by the choir. After the first verse, the whole cathedral was filled with the voices joining in the song. Bishop Rusudan Gotsiridze later described, that being the part of this service, joining the song felt almost like a much-needed group therapy. “At first, before the service, people did not even have the will or energy to smile and wish happy Christmas to each other, but as the service unfolded, together we dared to be happy, to have hope”- said Bishop Rusudan.
“We felt as if we were part of a big family”- another attendant reflected. Pamela, a woman in her 90s, from England now living in Georgia expressed her joy of attending an overnight Christmas service first time in years, feeling happy to see people of so many different backgrounds, especially the Ukrainians.
