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Советом Священной Митрополии Абхазии и священнослужители Священной Митрополии Абхазии архимандрит Дорофей (Дбар) и иеромонах Андрей (Ампар) продолжают священнодействовать в храмах Священной Митрополии Абхазии решение

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On Behalf of the Church National Assembly
A Brief History of the Republic of Abkhazia
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Respected Heads of Autocephalous Orthodox Churches and members of the Holy Synods of Autocephalous Orthodox Churches!


We would like to draw your attention to the extremely difficult situation in which the people of Abkhazia find themselves. Under complicated geopolitical circumstances in the Caucasus, our people are trying to preserve and revive the Orthodox faith. We are asking the Orthodox community with the Ecumenical Patriarchate at its head to set up a special Commission to start discussing the issue of regulating the canonical status of the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia on the basis of the decision made at the Church National Assembly on May 15th 2011 as soon as it appears possible.

We also ask you to send your representatives to Abkhazia to become acquainted with the position of the Orthodox Church in our country.


On Behalf of the Church National Assembly:


Chairman of the Church National Assembly and the Council of the Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia:


Archimandrite Dorotheus (Dbar) ______________________


Members of the Presidium of the Church’s National Assembly and Council of the Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia:


Fr/Andrei (Ampar) _______________________


Fr David (Sarsaniya) _______________________


Monk Theophanes (Krutikov) _______________________


Monk Simon (Lakrba) _______________________


Monk Anastasios (Dodarchuk) _______________________


Stanislav Lakoba _______________________


Denis Chachkhalia _______________________


Akhaz (Alkhas) Tkhagushev _______________________


George (Arda) Ashuba _______________________


Timothei (Timur) Dzidzariya _______________________


Mark (Omar) Trapsh _______________________


Secretaries of the Church National Assembly:


German Marshaniya _______________________


George (Arda) Ashuba _______________________


ATTACHMENT


Summary of the establishment of the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia


Christianity began to infiltrate into Abkhazia in the middle of the 1st Century. Two of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ our Lord preached here: the Saints Andrew the First-called and Simon the Canaanite [also known as Simon the Zealot]. The apostle Simon the Canaanite was buried in Anakopia (New Athos). At the beginning of the 6th century the first Church Institute appeared in Abkhazia in Pitsunda – the Bishopric of Pityus. In 325 AD Bishop Stratophil of Pityus took part in the First Ecumenical Council. In the 5th century Bishop Kekropios of Sebastopolis of took part in the 4th Ecumenical Council. In the 6th Century Emperor Justinian the Great completed the process of Christianisation of the ancient Abkhazian tribes and created the Autocephalous Abazgian (Abkhazian) Diocese with the Archbishop of Sebastopol (modern-day Sukhum) at its head. The Sebastopol Seat was represented in the lists of the Diocese of the Church of Constantinople under 34 items. In the 7th century the follower of the famous Byzantine theologian Maximus the Confessor, Saint Anastasy wrote about Abkhazia as a country of “Christ-loving Abazgis”, and called its leaders “Christian leaders”. In the middle of the 8th century the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Abkhazia emerged with Catholicos-Patriarch John at its head. His election and ordination took place in Antioch. The Orthodox Church of Abkhazia existed until the end of the eighteenth century. The last Abkhazian Catholicos-Patriarch Maxim II died in Kiev’s Pechersky Lavra [Monastery of the Caves] in 1795. In 1851 the Abkhazian Diocese was set up in Abkhazia that was already a part of the Russian Empire. In 1885 it was re-named the Sukhum Diocese. By 1917 the Sukhum Diocese had 125 church communities: 61 Abkhazian, 36 Russian, 16 Greek, 4 Megrelian-Georgian and 8 mixed. In 1918, after the territory of Abkhazia had been occupied by Georgian troops, the Sukhum-Abkhazian Diocese was set up by the still unrecognised Orthodox Church of Georgia. In 1943 the Orthodox Church of Russia recognised the Sukhum-Abkhazian Diocese as a part of the Orthodox Church of Georgia. From 1993 onwards the Sukhum-Abkhazian Diocese was de facto independent. Its canonical status remained undetermined. There is no Bishop within that area, and, therefore, no fully-fledged church life. As of today there are 15 functioning orthodox churches (out of more than 150 existing churches) and two monasteries. The majority of Abkhazis living in Abkhazia are of the Orthodox faith.


A Brief History of the Republic of Abkhazia


The Republic of Abkhazia is one of the most ancient State formations, a country in the North-Western sector of the Southern slope of the Main Caucasian range, on the South-Eastern coast of the Black Sea. It consists of 7 historical regions (represented by the 7 stars on the National flag). According to the population census in 2011 the number of inhabitants was 242 862 people.

Since ancient times Abkhazia has had a cultural, historical and religious connection with the Classical Greek and the Byzantine Empires.

In the 8th century the Abkhazian medieval Orthodox Kingdom emerged on the territory of modern-day Abkhazia, headed by King Leon II. The Abkhazian kings of the 10th century were in correspondence with the Constantinople Patriarch Nicolas the Mystic. In particular they helped the Church of Constantinople in the mission of enlightening the Alanian nation with the light of Christ’s truth (modern-day North and South Ossetia). A year after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 the Ottoman Turks stormed Abkhazia’s capital city – Sebastopolis, the modern city of Sukhum. In 1810 the Abkhazian principality became part of the Russian Empire. During the Caucasian war and conquest of the