“Abkhazian Church” declares restoration of ancient Catholicate, refuses dialogue with Georgian Church

Sukhumi, Abkhazia, October 25, 2021

Photo: rferl.org Photo: rferl.org     

The Georgian Patriarchate has no canonical authority in Abkhazia, believes the self-styled “Abkhazian Orthodox Church,” and thus it has proclaimed the restoration of the ancient Abkhazian Catholicate.

According to the Church Council of the “Abkhazian Church,” led by Fr. Vissarion Apliaa, the restoration of the Catholicate, which existed as separate from the Georgian Church from the 1470s to 1814, is aimed at “correcting the mistakes that were made regarding the canonical status of the Abkhazian Church.”

The Abkhazian Church Council declared its intentions in a recent address to His Holiness Patriarch Ilia of Georgia and His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow.

“The Abkhazian Orthodox Church declares that it does not want to have a fraternal spiritual connection with those who, contrary to the Gospel truth, consider Abkhazia to be the canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church,” the Council declares, calling on all Local Churches to “investigate the canonical status of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church with the help of canonical Orthodox Church law.”

In response, while “categorically disagreeing with the content and spirit of the address,” the Georgian Patriarchate invited Fr. Vissarion to Tbilisi for the “beginning of a dialogue.”

In February, the “Abkhazian Church” suspended all services in an effort to force a resolution to its status. In response, the Georgian Patriarchate reminded that Apliia was, in fact, ordained by Pat. Ilia, and that Abkhazia is universally recognized as the canonical territory of the Georgian Church, and thus the canonical status there is a matter for the Georgian Church to resolve.

Apliia and his group have petitioned several times to be received into the Russian Church, but the Russian Church has always maintained that Abkhazia, and also South Ossetia, are the canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

And despite the Georgian Church’s invitation, he continues to maintain that “the issue is not decided in Tbilisi,” but rather in Moscow, as he recently said on Abkhaz TV. In his view, the invitation is just another “deceit” from the Georgian Church.

***

The Abkhazian Catholicate existed from the first millennium, and as an independent structure from the 1470s, until 1814, when, following the conquest of Imereti by Imperial Russia, the Catholicate was made part of the Russian Church’s Georgian Exarchate.

After the restoration of the Georgian Church’s autocephaly in 1917, it established the Diocese of Tskhum-Abkhazia, and from 1921 to 1993, this diocese was always under the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Russian Holy Synod recognized the Diocese of Tskhum-Abkhazia as an integral part of the Georgian Church when it recognized its restored autocephaly in 1943.

Fr. Vissarion Apliaa was voted as the interim administrator of the Diocese of Sukhumi and Abkhazia of the Georgian Orthodox Church after the Georgian-Abkhazian war of 1992-1993 that resulted in most Georgian clergy being expelled for political reasons. Following the events of 2008, Georgian clergy were finally expelled from Abkhazia.

Fr. Vissarion then registered a new church structure in 2009—the “Abkhazian Orthodox Church,” with an unregulated and self-proclaimed autonomous status, separate from the Georgian Church—a de facto schism. However, the Georgian Church has not placed any canonical sanctions upon Fr. Vissarion and the other clergy so as not to deprive the Abkhazian faithful of the Holy Mysteries.

Both the Georgian and Russian Churches formally consider Fr. Vissarion still a member of the Georgian Church.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Telegram, WhatsApp, MeWe, and Gab!

10/25/2021

See also
Russian hierarch refutes Patriarch Bartholomew’s false accusations about Abkhazia, South Ossetia Russian hierarch refutes Patriarch Bartholomew’s false accusations about Abkhazia, South Ossetia Russian hierarch refutes Patriarch Bartholomew’s false accusations about Abkhazia, South Ossetia Russian hierarch refutes Patriarch Bartholomew’s false accusations about Abkhazia, South Ossetia
The Russian Church continues to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as the canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church and has not installed any bishops in either place, despite the recent claims of Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, clarifies His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk. Abkhazia is a matter for Georgian Church to resolve, new Georgian Church statements emphasize Abkhazia is a matter for Georgian Church to resolve, new Georgian Church statements emphasize Abkhazia is a matter for Georgian Church to resolve, new Georgian Church statements emphasize Abkhazia is a matter for Georgian Church to resolve, new Georgian Church statements emphasize
The recent decision of Fr. Vissarion Apliaa of the “Abkhazian Orthodox Church” to suspend the services there in a bid to force His Holiness Patriarch Kirill to define the status of the self-declared autonomous church was both unexpected and incomprehensible, believes the Georgian Orthodox Church. Self-proclaimed Abkhazian Orthodox Church suspends services to force a resolution to its status Self-proclaimed Abkhazian Orthodox Church suspends services to force a resolution to its status Self-proclaimed Abkhazian Orthodox Church suspends services to force a resolution to its status Self-proclaimed Abkhazian Orthodox Church suspends services to force a resolution to its status
Services in all churches of the so-called “Abkhazian Orthodox Church” have been suspended in an effort to force His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to resolve their status.
Comments
Alex10/28/2021 12:42 pm
Orthodox Brother Panagiotis: I disagree with you about nationalism. I believe you are thinking of only a few special countries, and missing the bigger picture. Nationalism is sometimes pro-Orthodox, yes, but other times it is anti-Orthodox. Consider, for example, Albanian nationalism. There is an Albanian Orthodox Church, and what do Nationalist Albanians think about it? They hate it. Or consider Ukrainian nationalism. There is a Ukrainian Orthodox Church, and what do Nationalist Ukrainians think about it? They hate it. You see? Nationalists want what they consider to be national greatness. If Orthodoxy happens to fit with their plans for national greatness (like in Serbia or Greece), then they are pro-Orthodox. But if Orthodoxy happens to stand in the way of their plans for national greatness (like in Albania or Ukraine), then they are anti-Orthodox. In addition to that, nationalism is a major problem because it stops Orthodoxy from spreading to new nations. This happens because nationalists always support the traditional religion of their nation. When that religion is Catholicism, or Buddhism, or Hinduism (for example), then they will oppose Orthodoxy. Can you imagine Polish, or Indian, or Korean nationalists being Orthodox? No, of course not. Why not? Because those nationalists are Catholic, Hindu and Buddhist respectively. So every time we try to bring Orthodoxy to a new country, the nationalists of that country stand against us. Nationalism may be great on the DEFENSE, when we're defending an Orthodox country from the Turks, but when we are trying to bring Orthodoxy to the rest of the world... it's a real problem. There are about 200 countries in the world. How many have pro-Orthodox nationalists? Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Georgia. That's all I can think of. 6 countries out of 200. Okay, maybe there are some smaller ones too - we could add Cyprus for example, although those are just Greeks living in another country. Maybe we could get up to 10-15 countries this way. But the rest - the overwhelming majority - have anti-Orthodox nationalists. In general, in most places, nationalism is a barrier to Orthodoxy. Orthodox countries with Orthodox nationalists are the exception, not the rule. If we look at the entire world, the great majority of nationalists are against us.
Panagiotis10/26/2021 11:50 pm
Orthodox Brother Alex: you raised many valid points and I agree... I think each case should be looked at individually and the facts and circumstances closely examined... There are many factors to consider and I think the following are some of the most important factors:. Is it a separate and distinct ethnic group of considerable numbers. Is this separate ethnic group living in their own country or living in an area where they are the majority, i.e. they are concentrated in a geographical area. Does this group have a conflict with the ethnicity that controls Orthodox Church, i.e. there is an ethnic rivalry and they do not want to pray in each others Churches... we must also not forget that we do not want our people joining other churches and sects, as some of them are waiting like vultures... as far as nationalism is concerned, nationalism and the Orthodox Church are intertwined and inseparable... Without one the other would not exist... If you doubt me just look for yourself... Would there be a Serbian Orthodox Church without the Nationalist Serbian people? Would the Serbian people have been able to survive if they did not stick together and become nationalists and strong Orthodox Christians? Same thing applies to the Greek People. Greek nationalists were the ones who won independence from the Ottoman Empire and they worked hand-in-hand with the Orthodox Church... The liberals, who are no good, have tried to make the word nationalism a dirty word.. Just tell these communist liberals that George Washington, the founder of the USA, and ALL America's founding fathers were nationalists, and they will shut up real quick...
Alex10/26/2021 2:41 pm
The fact is, we desperately need some clear set of criteria for autocephaly, that say: You can request autocephaly if you meet conditions A, B, C, but not if you don't meet them. Right now, no such criteria exist. Every historical autocephaly was ad-hoc, given for different reasons at a different point in time. There are no actual rules or even guidelines for who should or shouldn't receive autocephaly. As a result, we have all these schisms where some group breaks away from its Church because it has a conflict with that Church over some issue, and demands autocephaly. We cannot continue like this.
Alex10/26/2021 12:44 pm
Jose and Panagiotis: If we adopt the principle that every group who wants their own autocephalous Church should have one, where do we stop? There are over 120 minority groups in Russia, many of them Orthodox, many of them with a larger population than Abkhazia. Should they all get their own Churches? And what about minority groups or distinct cultural regions in Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania? Perhaps we could have a Transylvanian Orthodox Church, or a Bosnian Orthodox Church, and of course a Montenegrin Orthodox Church, and maybe if the people of Crete decide they don't like mainland Greeks they should have a Cretan Orthodox Church and so on. You see the problem? "Everyone who wants a separate Church should have one" is a principle that leads to rapid fragmentation. If we adopt it, then after a few generations we will have a hundred tiny Orthodox Churches, with a new one getting created every time someone decides they don't like their current Church for whatever reason.
Jose Mendoza10/26/2021 10:04 am
This is one of the great scandals of our Orthodox Church today, that nationalism is so important that it both takes us into schism AND keeps those responding to these movements from dealing pastorally with them by granting autocephaly for the salvation of all. Why are Rus' or Romania due autocephaly, but not Macedonia or Abkhazia? (Especially since both had autocephalous churches long before the likes of Romania or Poland ever did.)
Panagiotis10/26/2021 1:12 am
The Abkhazian People are a separate and distinct ethnic group... They are living in their historical Homeland... If they want to have their own Independent Abkhazian Orthodox Church, then why shouldn't they? ...Why would the Georgian Orthodox Church want to force these people to remain in their Georgian Church if they do not want to be in that Georgian Church?.. Ethnic Georgians living in Abkhazia should be allowed to remain in the Georgian Orthodox Church if they want too, but ethnic Abkhazians also have a right to their own Church... before others criticize me, ask yourself why you have your own Serbian Church, or Romanian Church, or Bulgarian Church, excetera...
Here you can leave your comment on the present article, not exceeding 4000 characters. All comments will be read by the editors of OrthoChristian.Com.
Enter through FaceBook
Your name:
Your e-mail:
Enter the digits, seen on picture:

Characters remaining: 4000

Subscribe
to our mailing list

* indicates required
×