Georgian Patriarch Shio III called on believers to embrace forgiveness, love and mercy, stressing that justice cannot exist without the willingness to forgive.

On October 4, the patriarch celebrated the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi and delivered a sermon focused on forgiveness and Christian responsibility. The service took place on the Sunday following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, according to the Georgian Patriarchate’s press service.

“Love and the ability to forgive are qualities without which no justice exists or can exist,” Patriarch Shio said.

At the center of his sermon was the Gospel teaching on forgiveness. The patriarch said Christ calls on Christians to forgive those who repent and ask for forgiveness, not merely a limited number of times but continually.

At the same time, forgiveness does not mean indifference toward wrongdoing, he stressed. If a person refuses to repent and continues actions that harm a family, society or the Church, it may be necessary to distance oneself from that person or take measures to prevent further harm. However, such action should not be accompanied by hatred or hostility, Patriarch Shio said.

The Georgian Church leader also referred to the biblical parable of the unforgiving debtor. In the story, a servant whose enormous debt was forgiven by his master refused to forgive a much smaller debt owed to him by another person. The master subsequently punished him for his lack of mercy.

According to Patriarch Shio, the parable raises not only the question of how often Christians should forgive others, but also how often God forgives them.

“We endlessly ask the Lord for mercy and forgiveness, but do not forgive our neighbors—and by behaving this way, we place ourselves in great danger,” he said.

The patriarch also urged believers to reflect on their own responsibilities. People, he noted, can easily come to believe that others owe them something while forgetting their own obligations to God and to those around them.

“Christians may feel that everyone owes us something, while we owe nothing to anyone—not to God and, especially, not to our neighbor,” Patriarch Shio said.

He emphasized that Christian faith can help people recognize their responsibilities and change their attitude toward others. In his view, a life based on forgiveness, love, humility and mercy contributes not only to spiritual salvation but also to joy, happiness and well-being.

Patriarch Shio also highlighted the importance of prayer, urging believers not to despair even in the most difficult circumstances. Prayer, he said, can help a person emerge from the “abyss of sin,” with divine mercy accompanying that effort.

Concluding his sermon, the patriarch encouraged the faithful to reflect on the words of the Lord’s Prayer, in which Christians ask God to forgive them as they forgive those who owe them. “Let us never lose heart, and let us never become lazy in prayer,” Patriarch Shio urged.