Georgian Byzantine-Rite Catholics
Encyclopedia
Georgian Byzantine Rite Catholics (Catholics
of Georgia
n nationality or origin who are of Byzantine
or "Greek" rite) are estimated at only 500 worldwide.
government, which had controlled Georgia since the beginning of that century, made use of that rite exclusive to the Eastern Orthodox Church
. Accordingly, some of these Georgians, clergy as well as laity, adopted the Armenian Rite
and joined the Armenian Catholic diocese of Artvin
, which had been set up in Russian Transcaucasia in 1850.
Only after the granting of religious freedom in Russia in 1905 did some Catholics in Georgia adopt the Byzantine rite.
In 1861, outside of Georgia, indeed outside of the whole of the Russian Empire, Father Peter Karishiaranti (Pétre Kharistshirashvili) founded in Constantinople
two religious congregations of the Immaculate Conception, one for men, the other for women. These served Georgian Catholics living in the then capital of the Ottoman Empire
. They also served in Montaubon, France
. These congregations are long extinct, although some of their members were still alive in the late 1950s. The building that housed the male congregation, in Feriköy district, still stands in Istanbul
, now in private ownership. Their clergy served a small parish in Constantinople, giving Georgian Catholics in the city the possibility to worship in accordance with the Georgian Byzantine rite
. This church (Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is still in service, although in the hands of Italian Catholic priests, gravestones in Georgian can still be seen in its courtyard.
In the brief period of Georgian independence between 1918 and 1921, some influential Georgian Orthodox expressed an interest in union with the Church of Rome, and an envoy was sent from Rome in 1919 to examine the situation. As a result of the onset of civil war and Soviet occupation, this came to nothing.
who follow the Byzantine Rite as a separate particular Church
with either 1861 or 1917 as the date of reunion with Rome. One Web site says that, in the 1930s, they had an Exarch
, whom it misnames as Fr. Shio Batmanishviii, thus implicitly claiming that an apostolic exarchate specifically for Georgians of Byzantine Rite had been established.
The book, The Forgotten: Catholics of the Soviet Union Empire from Lenin through Stalin, by Father Christopher Zugger (Syracuse University Press 2001) also states: "By 1936, the Byzantine Catholic Church of Georgia had two communities, served by a bishop and four priests, with 8,000 believers", and identifies the bishop as Shio Batmalashvili (pages 224 and following).
These sources thus claim that a Church of Byzantine Rite existed in Georgia, even if only as a local particular Church. However, since the establishment of a new hierarchical jurisdiction must be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and no mention of the erection of such a jurisdiction for Byzantine Georgian Catholics exists in that official gazette of the Holy See, the claim appears to be unfounded.
Until 1994, the annual publication Catholic Almanac used to go further, listing "Georgian" among the Byzantine Rites or autonomous particular Churches. This was corrected in 1995.
If Shio Batmalashvili was sent as a bishop to Georgia, the fact that the Annuario Pontificio of the 1930s does not mention him may mean he was one of the priests secretly ordained bishops of titular sees for the service of the Church in the Soviet Union by French Jesuit Bishop Michel d'Herbigny
, who was head of the Pontifical Commission for Russia
from 1925 to 1934. Such a bishop would have been sent not to serve the few Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Georgia, but as apostolic administrator of the whole of the Latin diocese of Tiraspol, to which Georgian Catholics even of Byzantine rite belonged (cf. Oriente Cattolico (1974), page 194), and it would have been indeed astounding if the Holy See had chosen the 1930s, when the Soviet government was forcing into union with the Russian Orthodox Church
all Catholics of Byzantine Rite who were in its power, to draw attention to the few Georgians of that rite by establishing for the first time a separate jurisdiction for them.
Accordingly, Georgian Catholics of Byzantine Rite do not in fact constitute an autonomous ("sui iuris") Church
, since canon 27 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
defines these Churches as under a hierarchy of their own and recognized as autonomous by the supreme authority of the Church.
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
n nationality or origin who are of Byzantine
Byzantine Rite
The Byzantine Rite, sometimes called the Rite of Constantinople or Constantinopolitan Rite is the liturgical rite used currently by all the Eastern Orthodox Churches, by the Greek Catholic Churches , and by the Protestant Ukrainian Lutheran Church...
or "Greek" rite) are estimated at only 500 worldwide.
History
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, when almost all Georgian Catholics were of the Latin Rite, some wished to use the Byzantine rite used by the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Russian TsaristRussian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
government, which had controlled Georgia since the beginning of that century, made use of that rite exclusive to the Eastern Orthodox Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
. Accordingly, some of these Georgians, clergy as well as laity, adopted the Armenian Rite
Armenian Rite
The Armenian Rite is an independent liturgy. This rite is used by both the Armenian Apostolic and Armenian Catholic Churches; it is also the rite of a significant number of Eastern Catholic Christians in the Republic of Georgia....
and joined the Armenian Catholic diocese of Artvin
Artvin
-History:See Artvin Province for the history of the region.-Places of interest:* Artvin or Livana castle, built in 937There are a number of Ottoman Empire houses and public buildings including:* Salih Bey mosque, built in 1792...
, which had been set up in Russian Transcaucasia in 1850.
Only after the granting of religious freedom in Russia in 1905 did some Catholics in Georgia adopt the Byzantine rite.
In 1861, outside of Georgia, indeed outside of the whole of the Russian Empire, Father Peter Karishiaranti (Pétre Kharistshirashvili) founded in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
two religious congregations of the Immaculate Conception, one for men, the other for women. These served Georgian Catholics living in the then capital of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. They also served in Montaubon, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. These congregations are long extinct, although some of their members were still alive in the late 1950s. The building that housed the male congregation, in Feriköy district, still stands in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, now in private ownership. Their clergy served a small parish in Constantinople, giving Georgian Catholics in the city the possibility to worship in accordance with the Georgian Byzantine rite
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church
The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is an autocephalous part of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Since the 4th century AD, Georgian Orthodoxy has been the state religion of Georgia, and it remains the country's largest religious institution....
. This church (Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is still in service, although in the hands of Italian Catholic priests, gravestones in Georgian can still be seen in its courtyard.
In the brief period of Georgian independence between 1918 and 1921, some influential Georgian Orthodox expressed an interest in union with the Church of Rome, and an envoy was sent from Rome in 1919 to examine the situation. As a result of the onset of civil war and Soviet occupation, this came to nothing.
A Georgian Church of Byzantine Rite?
Some have treated Catholics within the Georgian Catholic ChurchGeorgian Catholic Church
The Georgian Catholic Church , since the 11th century East-West Schism, has been composed mainly of Latin Rite Catholics; Georgian Catholic communities of the Armenian Rite have existed in the country since the 18th century....
who follow the Byzantine Rite as a separate particular Church
Particular Church
In Catholic canon law, a Particular Church is an ecclesial community headed by a bishop or someone recognised as the equivalent of a bishop.There are two kinds of particular Churches:# Local particular Churches ...
with either 1861 or 1917 as the date of reunion with Rome. One Web site says that, in the 1930s, they had an Exarch
Exarch
In the Byzantine Empire, an exarch was governor with extended authority of a province at some remove from the capital Constantinople. The prevailing situation frequently involved him in military operations....
, whom it misnames as Fr. Shio Batmanishviii, thus implicitly claiming that an apostolic exarchate specifically for Georgians of Byzantine Rite had been established.
The book, The Forgotten: Catholics of the Soviet Union Empire from Lenin through Stalin, by Father Christopher Zugger (Syracuse University Press 2001) also states: "By 1936, the Byzantine Catholic Church of Georgia had two communities, served by a bishop and four priests, with 8,000 believers", and identifies the bishop as Shio Batmalashvili (pages 224 and following).
These sources thus claim that a Church of Byzantine Rite existed in Georgia, even if only as a local particular Church. However, since the establishment of a new hierarchical jurisdiction must be published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, and no mention of the erection of such a jurisdiction for Byzantine Georgian Catholics exists in that official gazette of the Holy See, the claim appears to be unfounded.
Until 1994, the annual publication Catholic Almanac used to go further, listing "Georgian" among the Byzantine Rites or autonomous particular Churches. This was corrected in 1995.
If Shio Batmalashvili was sent as a bishop to Georgia, the fact that the Annuario Pontificio of the 1930s does not mention him may mean he was one of the priests secretly ordained bishops of titular sees for the service of the Church in the Soviet Union by French Jesuit Bishop Michel d'Herbigny
Michel d'Herbigny
Michel-Joseph Bourguignon d'Herbigny was a French Jesuit scholar and Roman Catholic bishop. He was president of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome, and of the Pontifical Commission for Russia...
, who was head of the Pontifical Commission for Russia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
from 1925 to 1934. Such a bishop would have been sent not to serve the few Byzantine-Rite Catholics in Georgia, but as apostolic administrator of the whole of the Latin diocese of Tiraspol, to which Georgian Catholics even of Byzantine rite belonged (cf. Oriente Cattolico (1974), page 194), and it would have been indeed astounding if the Holy See had chosen the 1930s, when the Soviet government was forcing into union with the Russian Orthodox Church
Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
all Catholics of Byzantine Rite who were in its power, to draw attention to the few Georgians of that rite by establishing for the first time a separate jurisdiction for them.
Accordingly, Georgian Catholics of Byzantine Rite do not in fact constitute an autonomous ("sui iuris") Church
Particular Church
In Catholic canon law, a Particular Church is an ecclesial community headed by a bishop or someone recognised as the equivalent of a bishop.There are two kinds of particular Churches:# Local particular Churches ...
, since canon 27 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
defines these Churches as under a hierarchy of their own and recognized as autonomous by the supreme authority of the Church.
Sources
- Oriente Cattolico (Vatican City: The Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Churches, 1974)
- Annuario Pontificio
- Eastern Catholic Communities without Hierarchies
- History of Georgian Byzantine Catholic Church
- History of Catholicism Among the Georgians