The Catholic Church in Abkhazia is the third largest Christian denomination in the territory of the

Republic of Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, which is part of the worldwide

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in communion with the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

. Most Christians in Abkhazia are Orthodox, see

Religion in Abkhazia Many inhabitants of Abkhazia are Orthodox Christians, With significant minorities adhering to Islam and the Abkhaz neopaganism, or the "Abkhazian traditional religion". The influence of this last has always remained strong and has been experi ...

. Due to Abkhazia's partial recognition, administration of Catholics comes from Catholic dioceses in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. The Catholic Church in Abkhazia mainly consists of

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in Ce ...

, and expatriates living in Abkhazia. The

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

does not have diplomatic relations with Abkhazia, but has enjoyed two high level visits from the apostolic nuncio.

History

In the 13th and 14th centuries Genoese merchants established their trading enterprises in

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

. With the merchants, came missionaries of various Catholic religious orders. The presence of the Catholic Church in Abkhazia is closely linked to the history of Catholicism in Georgia. In 1240

Pope Gregory IX Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

sent missionaries of the monastic order of

Franciscans , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

to the Georgian Queen Rusudan. In 1328

Pope John XXII Pope John XXII ( la, Ioannes PP. XXII; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Pope, elected by ...

established a Latin Diocese in

Tiflis Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million pe ...

, which included territory of

. It was abolished in 1507. On 8 November 1632, Catholics living in

were annexed to the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Isfahan. In the 16th century

Armenian Catholics , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

, who were under the care of the

Armenian Catholic Church , native_name_lang = hy , image = St Elie - St Gregory Armenian Catholic Cathedral.jpg , imagewidth = 260px , alt = , caption = Cathedral of Saint Elias and Saint Gregory the Illuminat ...

, began to settle on the territory of Abkhazia. In 1626, missionaries arrived in Georgia from the Theatine monastic order who stayed in Georgia until 1700. After the annexation of eastern Georgia in 1783 by the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, the Russian government expelled

Carmelites , image = , caption = Coat of arms of the Carmelites , abbreviation = OCarm , formation = Late 12th century , founder = Early hermits of Mount Carmel , founding_location = Mount Car ...

, who were in the country since 1661. In 1850, Abkhazian Catholics were under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Tiraspol. In the second half of the 19th century, after the uprisings in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

exiles immigrated and founded numerous Catholic communities in Abkhazia. In 1908, they built a small Catholic church in honor of St. Simon the Canaanite in Sukhumi, which survives to this day. After the establishment of Georgian SSR in 1921, Abkhazian Catholics faced persecution by Soviet authorities were persecuted. Many believers were persecuted. Sukhumi's St. Simon's Church was closed in the period. Official persecution lasted until 1993. After the Abkhaz War, in 1993, Abkhazian Catholics could no longer be served by priests from Georgia and were transferred to the pastoral care of Diocese of Saint Clement at Saratov. Bogdan Severin of Apostles Simon and Thaddeus Parish of made period visits to Sukhumi from

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, providing pastoral guidance and charitable assistance to local Catholics. At the time, Catholic Masses were celebrated in club premises of Sukhumi Botanical Garden. In 1996, Church of St. Simon the Canaanite was returned to the Catholic community and regular worship in the premises remains since

Today

Presently, the Catholic community of Abkhazia numbers circa 150 people of whom about 80 people reside in Sukhumi. Small communities are also recognised in Gagra and

Pitsunda Pitsunda ( ab, Пиҵунда, russian: Пицунда) or Bichvinta ( ka, ბიჭვინთა ) is a resort town in the Gagra District of Abkhazia/Georgia (country), Georgia. Founded by Greek colonists in the 5th century BC, Pitsunda became ...

. Most of them are ethnic

and

. In Sukhumi, parishioners are served by Fr. Jerzy Pillas and charitable services are provided by Caritas. Due to partial and disputed international and canonical status of Abkhazia, the Catholics are served by the Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus. Papal

nuncio An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international or ...

Claudio Gugerotti visited to

twice – in October 2005 and in January 2006 – to meet with government representatives. Currently, there are no diplomatic relations between the

and

Government of Abkhazia The Government of the Republic of Abkhazia governs the partially recognised Republic of Abkhazia. Executive branch The Republic of Abkhazia is headed by the President, a post held since early 2020 by Aslan Bzhania, who is supported by the V ...

recognised the Catholic communities ownership and claim to St. Simon the Zealot's Church in Sukhumi and recognised the historic and cultural significance as part of Abkhazian heritage in 2011.

Notes

References

* The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol 1, ed. Franciscans, M., 2002,

External links

* http://www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/179919/ * http://www.sedmitza.ru/news/337223.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025759/http://www.abhazia.com/snews.php?action=news&id_cat=1&id_mess=13339 {{Asia topic, Christianity in Catholic Church in Abkhazia