Five monks banned from serving were expelled from the monastery in the village of Salkhino, Martvili municipality, with the help of the police, and then detained on charges of obstructing church activities and resistance. The footage of the confrontation between the clergy and the employees of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs was published on Facebook, Novosti – Georgia reports.

A ban on ministry is one of the harshest punishments in the church, only the deprivation of dignity and excommunication from the church are more severe. For two months, a group of monks refused to obey the corresponding decree of the newly appointed Metropolitan of the Chkondid Diocese Stefane (Kalaidzhashvili). On October 29, the rebels received a letter signed by the secretary of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archpriest Mikhail Botkoveli. In it, the monks were called upon to leave the monastery complex in Salkhino until November 4.

The monks were detained at dawn on November 5, shortly before the beginning of the service under the leadership of Metropolitan Stefan.

Many confessors in Martvili openly support Stefan’s predecessor, Petre (Tsaava), who was banned from serving on October 31, 2019. In recent months, Kalaidzhashvili has repeatedly tried to interfere with the holding of the liturgy in the Salkhi Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin. Such episodes ended with fights between supporters and opponents of Kalaijashvili right in the courtyard of the ancient temple.

The situation in Salkhino is still tense. Dozens of people – supporters and opponents of Metropolitan Stefan, are near the church complex in Martvili municipality.