TheCatholicate of Abkhazia (Georgian:აფხაზეთის საკათალიკოსო,romanized:apkhazetis sak'atalik'oso) was a subdivision of theGeorgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by theCatholicos (later, Catholicos Patriarch), officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch ofImereti,Odishi,Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria,Racha-Lechkhum-Svaneti,Ossetians,Dvals, and all of the North. The residence of the Catholicoi was atBichvinta (now Pitsunda) in Abkhazia (hence, the name of the Catholicate), but was moved to theGelati Monastery in Imereti in the late 16th century. In 1814, the office of the Catholicos of Abkhazia was abolished by theRussian Empire which would take control of the Georgian church until 1917.
The date when the Catholicate of Abkhazia was established is not completely clear with some scholars dating it to the 9th or 10th centuries.[1] Retrieved on May 2, 2007. Approximately at that time Abkhazian bishoprics changed allegiance from Constantinople to Mtskheta.[2] The titular Catholicoi of Abkhazia were mentioned in the contemporary sources for the first time in 11th century and likely did not enjoy independence at that time. The first written account on the Catholicate of Abkhazia dates to 1290 and some scholars date its founding to the 13th century. By that time, theMongol rule had divided Georgia into its eastern and western parts, with the latter being de facto independent from the MongolIlkhanid dynasty, to which Georgia was a subject. The political independence of the western Georgian rulers,Kings of Imereti, might have also resulted in the revival of the Catholicate of Abkhazia,[1] but it was not until the late 15th century, when it emerged as an independent religious entity. This is usually associated with the consecration of Archbishop Joachime of Tsaish and Bedia, as Catholicos of Abkhazia byMichael IV, thePatriarch of Antioch, during the rule of the Imeretian kingBagrat VI (1463-1478).[3] To justify the break with the Mtskheta see, Michael issued a special document,The Law of Faith, in which he stated that western and eastern Georgia had different histories of conversion and, therefore, they should be independent from each other.[citation needed]
Thus, the Catholicoi of Abkhazia became independent and later assumed the title of Patriarch. Their spiritual jurisdiction extended over the Kingdom of Imereti and its vassal principalities –Guria,Mingrelia,Svaneti, andAbkhazia. They considered themselves as vicars ofSt. Andrew, who, according to a medieval Georgian tradition, preached Christianity in western Georgia, then known to theClassical authors asColchis. At various periods of its existence, the Catholicate of Abkhazia was subdivided into several dioceses (eparchies), including those of Bichvinta, Kutaisi, Gelati, Tsageri, Tsaishi,Tsalenjikha, Chkondidi, Khoni, Ninotsminda, Nikortsminda,Shemokmedi, Jumati,Dranda,Bedia andMokvi, centered on the respective cathedrals.[1]
In the latter part of the 16th century, Catholicos Patriarch Eudemos I (Chkheidze) had to move his residence from Bichvinta to theGelati Monastery at Kutaisi, fleeing theOttoman expansion into Abkhazia. Eudemos launched a series of important reforms and restored a communion with the Patriarchate of Georgia, retaining his status of an independent prelate, however. The Catholicoi of Abkhazia mostly came from the leading Georgian noble houses, and were able to support the church financially and secure its continuous involvement in the political and cultural life of western Georgia. However, theIslamization of Abkhazia,Adjara, and LowerGuria under the Ottoman rule delivered a hard blow to the Catholicate. The close cooperation between the royal dynasty and the church in the late 18th century resulted in the revival of Christianity in Guria, and a portion of Abkhazia. After the conquest of Imereti byImperial Russia in 1810, the Catholicate of Abkhazia was also abolished, in 1814, by the Russian authorities and annexed to theExarchate of Georgia, a subdivision of theRussian Orthodox Church, of which it remained an integral part until the restoration of the unified and autocephalousGeorgian Orthodox Church in 1917.[1]
In 2009 theAbkhazian Orthodox Church was established as a continuation of the Catholicate of Abkhazia, though this church remains today (2019) as noncanonical within the Eastern Orthodox Church.[4]
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