Rusudan Gotsiridze

Rusudan Gotsiridze (2014)

Rusudan Gotsiridze ( Georgian რუსუდან გოცირიძე , born February 8, 1975 in Tbilisi ) is Bishop of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia .

The Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia was founded in the 1860s through Baptist missions among the Molokans . Today it has about 4,000 members.

Gotsiridze led the women's work in her church from 2000 to 2005. From 2006 to 2013 she worked as a researcher at the International Center on Conflict and Negotiations in Tbilisi. As bishop, she has been responsible for the central region of her church and for ecumenical relations since 2009. In 2010 she was elected President of the Synod .

As a woman in a church leadership position and representative of a small denomination in the country shaped by the Georgian Orthodox Church , Gotsiridze often speaks about the role of women in Georgian society. She is involved in interreligious dialogue and advocates freedom of religion , a topic that particularly affects the Muslim minority in Georgia. Gotsiridze is also committed to the rights of LGBT people in Georgia. Since 2007 she has been part of the Religious Council , which is part of the Public Defender of Georgia .

Rusudan Gotsiridze received the International Women of Courage Award in 2014. In 2016, Georgian President Giorgi Margwelashvili awarded Gotsiridze the country's Order of Honor for her commitment to interreligious dialogue.

Web links

Commons : Rusudan Gotsiridze  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Brief portrait on the Heinrich Böll Foundation website
• Giorgi Lomsadze: Georgia: Female Bishop Offers Model for Religious Tolerance . Eurasianet, March 14, 2012.
• Brief presentation at a symposium at Baylor University
• Bios of 2014 Award Winners . US Department of State, Office of Global Women's Issues, March 3, 2014.
• The President of Georgia Awards the Bishop of the Evangelical-Baptist Church, Rusudan Gotsiridze and the Head of Poka Monastery, Mother Elizabeth with the Order of Honor . The Administration of the President of Georgia November 10, 2016.