On March 31, a short video circulated on social media featuring a photo of the Patriarch’s locum tenens, Shio Mujiri, and a quote. In the quote, Shio Mujiri allegedly states that anyone who accuses their own country of starting a war is a traitor and will be cursed for nine generations.
The quote attributed to Shio Mujiri is fake. The Metropolitan has not made such a statement, nor can it be found on the official page of the Georgian Patriarchate.
The circulated quote gives the impression that Shio Mujiri made this statement after the Georgian Dream parliamentary temporary investigative commission questioned generals Zaza Gogava and Mamuka Kurashvili regarding the start of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. However, the quote, in which Shio Mujiri supposedly states that those accusing their own country of starting a war are traitors and will be cursed for nine generations, cannot be found in any open sources. Similar or identical statements do not appear on the official website or Facebook page of the Patriarchate.
Myth Detector contacted the Public Relations Office of the Patriarchate to verify the information. The head of the Public Relations Office of the Patriarchate, Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, confirmed that the quote circulating on social media is fake and that the Patriarch’s locum tenens, Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, has not made any statements regarding the start of the war.
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