Catholic Church in Georgia
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The Catholic Church in Georgia, since the 11th-century East–West Schism, has been composed mainly of Latin Church Catholics; a very large community of the Armenian Catholic Church has existed in Georgia since the 18th century.
A small
History
Christianity in Georgia began in earnest with the
Around this time, Catholic missionaries became active in Georgia, setting up small Latin communities. A Latin Church diocese was established at Tbilisi in 1329, but this was allowed to lapse after the appointment of the fourteenth and last of its line of bishops in 1507, owing to few numbers of Catholics.
In 1626, the
However, an agreement between
Towards the end of the 19th century, some Georgian Catholics wished to use the Byzantine Rite in Old Georgian, but were thwarted by the outlawing of Byzantine "Uniate" groups. Accordingly, since the tsars forbade their Catholic subjects to use the Byzantine Rite–and the Holy See did not promote its use among the Georgians–some clergy and laity adopted the Armenian Rite..
At
Some Georgian nationalists associated the Georgian identity with the Orthodox faith and Catholics were called French to underline that they were not true Georgians.[3]
Only after the granting of religious freedom during the Russian Revolution of 1905 did some Georgian Catholics resume the Byzantine Rite, without reaching the stage of having a separate diocese (particular Church) established for them.
At the outbreak of the
In the brief period of Georgian independence between 1918 and 1921, some influential Georgian Orthodox expressed interest in reunification with the Holy See, and an envoy was sent from the Vatican in 1919 to examine the situation. As a result of the onset of the civil war and the Soviet invasion, this came to nothing.
In 1920, it was estimated that of 40,000 Catholics in Georgia, 32,000 were Latins and the remainder of the Armenian Catholics.[4]
According to Father Christopher Zugger, nine Servite missionaries from Constantinople, headed by
Organisation
After the collapse of the
In the same interview, the bishop ranked ecumenical work as the main priority for the Church at present. "This is our first task and it is a very difficult one. Due to the legacy of its past, the Orthodox Church still has a hard time being open to this. The Catholics are well aware that they are a minority and often face discrimination and unfair treatment. You just need to remember the six churches that were confiscated and never given back, or the prohibition of interfaith marriages. The ecumenical path requires a great deal of patience and the constant search for new and potential opportunities for establishing relationships that could develop into bridges. Our university, where most of the students are non-Catholics, plays an important role in this."[9]
Armenian Catholic Georgians are in the care of the
Georgian Catholics of the Byzantine rite are said to have numbered 7,000 in 2005.
Demographics and major churches
In 2020, 85.84% of the population adhered to Christianity; 1% were Catholic.[10] This is approximately 37,000 Catholics in Georgia.
They are mostly found either in
The Catholics in Tbilisi are mostly Georgians and Armenians, as well as a small Assyrian community of the Chaldean Rite.
This church also provides mass in English, catering for the growing Catholic expatriate population of
A Catholic church is also present in Sukhumi, in Abkhazia. Other Catholic Churches are found in Vale, Gori and in Batumi.
See also
- Religion in Georgia (country)
- Christianity in Georgia (country)
- Freedom of religion in Georgia (country)
- List of Catholic dioceses in Georgia
- Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes Georgian Catholic church in Bomonti, Şişli, Istanbul
References
- ^ Kaya, Önder (9 January 2013). "İstanbul'da GÜRCÜ Cemaati ve Katolik Gürcü kilisesi". Şalom Gazetesi (in Turkish). Retrieved 2020-04-13.
- ISBN 978-0-631-23423-4.
- ISBN 978-963-386-006-9, retrieved 2023-10-25
- ^ "䍎䕗䄠☣ㄵ〻⁅慳瑥牮⁃慴桯汩挠䍯浭畮楴楥猠坩瑨潵琠䡩敲慲捨楥". www.cnewa.org. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
- ^ Zugger 2001, p. 213.
- ^ Zugger 2001, p. 236.
- ^ Zugger 2001, p. 259.
- ^ ACN (2022-02-17). "Msgr. Pasotto: a protagonist in the rebuilding of the Catholic Church in Georgia after the Communist era". ACN International. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ ACN (2022-02-17). "Msgr. Pasotto: a protagonist in the rebuilding of the Catholic Church in Georgia after the Communist era". ACN International. Retrieved 2022-11-07.
- ^ World Religion Database 2020 at the ARDA website, retrieved 2023-08-03
Bibliography
- Zugger, Rev Christopher Lawrence (1 April 2001). The Forgotten: Catholics of the Soviet Empire from Lenin through Stalin. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 978-0-8156-0679-6.