I welcome everyone!

Basically, a dream of my childhood has come true today. The father of my great grandfather Nikoloz Tsereteli, Joseph, was a Pastor, an ecclesiastical judge and served in Kutaisi for a fairly long time. I remember from Nikoloz Tsereteli that ever since childhood their biggest dream was exactly the restoration of the Bagrati Cathedral.

There are times to disperse rocks and there are times to collect them. Today is high time to collect rocks.

This reconstruction belongs to everyone – we are indeed entering the Golden Age.

People are in dire poverty in Kutaisi, but it is critical for us to realize that we need to restore everything and build everything.

It is not the property of any political party. I have never politicized this issue.

Whereas some politicians say that nothing has to be restored, as they are irritated by the construction.

The time will change both presidencies and governments, but this will remain for eternity – this belongs to whole of Georgia – to the politicians and non-politicians, to the believer and non-believer.

The Bagrati Cathedral is the symbol of unified Georgia and we have restored this symbol, just as we will surely restore the territorial integrity of Georgia. The Bagrati Cathedral is a prerequisite of this.

We have the potential to fulfill the wishes and dreams, which we all have from childhood.

Certainly, it was not only my dream, this probably was the dream of each one of you, of those who live nearby or who visited Kutaisi everyday and saw this beauty.

Old governments failed at restoration of this Cathedral, yet they attempted to restore it during the Communist times and were halted.

We live in a free Georgia and precisely this is the charm of freedom – “what has been ruined by hostility has been built by love”. 

We will build all of Georgia with love! God bless this, and allow many others, my dear friends!

I would like to greatly thank the Bishop, as these works were carried out under the blessing of his Holiness Illia II, and the daily personal care of the Bishop.

I would like to thank all architects, all construction workers.

We are erecting the cross today, and the Cathedral will finally obtain its initial look in a few days.

Today is a great day for Kutaisi; it is a great day for all of Georgia.

We opened a magnificent complex yesterday – the Rabat Fortress, which indeed is incredible, I found myself in the universe of the great Georgian poet, Rustaveli.

We are now completing the restoration of this Cathedral. We will open the restored Poti Cathedral in the upcoming days; we are opening a new museum and a completely renovated district center of Mestia; the construction of Lazika is to begin in few days, where we will build the copy of our ruined monument Bani, the great Christian sanctity, and this too will be a very significant step in Georgia’s progress.

I would like to once again welcome you all, and with Bishop’s blessing, with your permission, on your behalf and with your support, I would like to personally go up to the dome and take part in the erection ceremony of the cross.

The members of governments in olden times would go up to the domes to ruin crosses, to destroy them, to destroy churches and domes. Some are still striving back today…

Today, in independent Georgia, the duty of every single one of us, including the government is – construction.

Not only it is a duty, but it is a great privilege for any leader of the government to be the one who will bring the cross back to the magnificent Bagrati Cathedral.  

That is why I will do this with your permission.

Thank you.