TBILISI. - St. Synod of Georgian Orthodox Church reached compromise settlement on the issue of granting a legal status to religious denominations of Georgia, said Hierarch Iov on Monday, summarizing the Synod meeting, reports newsgeorgia.ru.

According to him, Georgian Patriarchate will make an official statement in the evening.

Both the Patriarchate and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II had expressed their negative attitude regarding the law. The Patriarchate, which insisted on a public examination of this issue, argues that Georgian parliament’s decision will result in negative consequences both for the church and for the state.

The Patriarch asked the President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili to veto amendments to the Civil Code, but failed.

In the past two days Orthodox parishioners organize marches in support of Georgian Orthodox Church at Tbilisi downtown.