Abkhazian Orthodox Church
Abkhazian Orthodox Church Абхазская Православная церковь Аԥсны Аиашахаҵаратә ауахәама | |
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Abbreviation | AOC |
Type | Eastern Orthodox |
Classification | Independent Eastern Orthodox |
Orientation | Phyletism |
Primate | Vissarion Aplaa |
Bishops | 2 |
Parishes | 144 |
Monasteries | 2[1] |
Language | Abkhaz, Russian |
Headquarters | Sukhumi |
Territory | Abkhazia |
Independence | 15 September 2009 |
Recognition | None |
Separated from | Georgian Orthodox Church |
Official website | aiasha.ru |
The Abkhazian Orthodox Church (
History
Catholicate of Abkhazia (1470s-1814)
The Catholicate of Abkhazia (
Russian church control (1814-1917)
After the conquest of Imereti by
Georgian church control (1917-1993)
In 1917, following the fall of the Russian
The War and the Intermediate period (1993-2009)
The Georgian church control was seriously compromised with the
The ethnically Abkhaz Vissarion Aplaa was the only remaining priest after the early 1990s war and he became acting head of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian eparchy. In the following years, recently consecrated clerics from the neighbouring Russian Maykop Eparchy arrived in Abkhazia. The new priests (archimandrite Dorotheos Dbar, hieromonk Andrew Ampar, hierodeacon David Sarsania) came into conflict with Vissarion, but through the mediation of Russian church officials, the two sides managed to reach a power-sharing agreement in Maikop in 2005. Under the agreement, the Eparchy would thenceforth have co-chairs and be named the Abkhazian Eparchy with undefined canonical status, to stress its separation from the Georgian Orthodox Church. The agreement did not hold however, when Priest Vissarion refused to share the leadership and continued to sign documents using the old name of the Eparchy.[4]
Complete separation and reestablishment of the Catholicate of Abkhazia (2009-present)
On 15 September 2009 the leadership of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy, against the authority of Ilia II, Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia, declared that it no longer considered itself part of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and that it was re-establishing the Catholicate of Abkhazia, and that it would henceforth be known as the Abkhazian Orthodox Church.
Its leader Vissarion Aplia asked both the Russian and Georgian Orthodox churches to recognize the "Abkhazian Orthodox Church". A spokesman for the Georgian patriarchate said the decision to separate from the Georgian Orthodox Church was taken by a "group of impostors", while the Russian Orthodox Church confirmed that it continued to view Abkhazia as the canonical territory of the Georgian Church.[5]
On 9 February 2011, the Abkhazian government transferred 38 churches, cathedrals and monasteries perpetually into the care of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church.[6]
- Hierarchy
Vissarion Aplaa is the Primate of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church since 2009 and is the self-proclaimed catholicos of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church.[7] The Pitsunda Cathedral is the church's chief cathedral and the seat of its primate.
The Church is presently organised into two
Gallery
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New Athos Monastery frescoes
See also
- Montenegrin Orthodox Church
- Macedonian Orthodox Church
- Orthodox Church in Italy
- Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church
References
- ^ "Действующие храмы и монастыри Абхазской Епархии". Archived from the original on 2010-10-30. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
- ^ Сухумо-Абхазская епархия переименована в Абхазскую Православную церковь с Сухумским и Пицундским патриархатами (in Russian). Администрация Президента Республики Абхазия. 2009-09-16. Archived from the original on 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ^ Abkhazia: "We'll kick out anyone". Forum 18. 7 April 2009
- ^ Вновь обострился конфликт внутри православной общины Абхазии. Blagovest.info May 15, 2006. Retrieved on June 26, 2007 (in Russian)
- ^ Russian Orthodox Church ‘Respects’ Georgian Church Authority over Abkhazia, S.Ossetia. Civil Georgia. September 16, 2009
- ^ Абхазской православной церкви переданы в безвозмездное бессрочное пользование 38 храмов и соборов.. Apsnypress (in Russian). 9 February 2011. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
- ^ a b Абхазская православная церковь заявила о своей самостоятельности (in Russian). Caucasian Knot. 2009-09-16. Retrieved 2009-09-26.
- ^ Kuchuberia, Anzhela (17 November 2009). Абхазская православная церковь обратилась к духовенству Грузии с братским посланием (in Russian). Caucasian Knot. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 29 November 2009.