(13 Jul 2012) STORYLINE:
Five hundred children were baptised at an Orthodox ceremony in the Georgian capital on Friday.
The mass baptisms took place at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.
The head of the Georgian Orthodox church is Catholicos Patriarch Ilia II who has been credited with encouraging birth rates in the former Soviet Republic.
Ilia II has promised to become the godfather of all babies born into Orthodox Christian families who already have three or more children.
Since he began the mass baptisms in 2008, he has gained more than 11,000 godchildren.
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