Religion in Abkhazia
Encyclopedia
Abkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
are Orthodox Christians
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,...
, with most of the diaspora adhering to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. The influence of the traditional Abkhaz religion also remains to some extent amongnst both Christians and Muslims. There exists a very small number of adherents to Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
, as well as non-believers. The Jehovah's Witnesses organization has officially been banned since 1995, though the decree is not currently enforced.
According to the constitutions of both Abkhazia and Georgia, the adherents of all religions have equal rights before the law.
Christianity
According to a survey held in 2003, 60% of respondents identified themselves as Christian. The two main churches active in Abkhazia are the Abkhazian Orthodox ChurchAbkhazian Orthodox Church
The Abkhazian Orthodox Church is an Eastern Orthodox church outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy. It came into existence when the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy declared on 15 September 2009 that it no longer considered itself part of the Georgian Orthodox Church and that it...
and the Armenian Apostolic Church
Armenian Apostolic Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
. There are approximately 140 church buildings in Abkhazia, most of which date from the first millennium.
The Abkhazian Orthodox Church operates outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy
Eastern Orthodox Church organization
This article covers the organization of the Eastern Orthodox Churches rather than the doctrines, traditions, practices, or other aspects of Eastern Orthodoxy...
, as all Eastern Orthodox churches recognise Abkhazia as belonging to the jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox church. The Georgian Orthodox Church lost effective control over the Sukhumi-Abkhazian eparchy following the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia, when ethnically Georgian priests had to flee Abkhazia. It maintains its structures in exile, where the current head is Archbishop Daniel. The Abkhazian Orthodox Church came into existence when the ethnically Abkhaz branch of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy declared on 15 September 2009 that it no longer considered itself part of the Georgian Orthodox Church and that it was re-establishing the Catholicate of Abkhazia
Catholicate of Abkhazia
The Catholicate of Abkhazia was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by the Catholicos of Abkhazia, officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch of Imereti, Odishi, Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria,...
disbanded in 1795.
The Georgian Orthodox Church has accused 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...
of interfering in its internal affairs, thereby violating Orthodox canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
, by training and sending into Abkhazia priests, publishing translations of the Gospels into the Abkhaz language
Abkhaz language
Abkhaz is a Northwest Caucasian language spoken mainly by the Abkhaz people. It is the official language of Abkhazia where around 100,000 people speak it. Furthermore, it is spoken by thousands of members of the Abkhazian diaspora in Turkey, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adjara, Syria, Jordan...
and annexing Georgian Orthodox property in Abkhazia. The Russian Orthodox Church claims that the priests it has sent serve in Abkhazia only temporarily while the local Orthodox believers do not have contacts with the Georgian Orthodox Church.
History of Christianity in Abkhazia
The earliest accounts of the introduction of Christianity into the present-day Abkhazia date from the first century AD, and from 325, when the bishop of Pityus (present day PitsundaPitsunda
Pitsunda is a resort town in Gagra district of Abkhazia.The town was founded by the Greeks in the 5th century BC as a trade colony Pityus or Pitiunt. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with superb mosaic floors...
) participated in the First Ecumenical Council in Nicaea
First Council of Nicaea
The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325...
. From around the 9th century onwards, the Orthodox dioceses of Abkhazia were governed by the Catholicate of Abkhazia
Catholicate of Abkhazia
The Catholicate of Abkhazia was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by the Catholicos of Abkhazia, officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch of Imereti, Odishi, Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria,...
, subordinated to the Georgian Orthodox Church. The Catholicate of Abkhazia and the Georgian Orthodox Church were abolished in 1795 and 1811 and the dioceses taken over by 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...
. The Georgian Orthodox Church regained its independence in 1917, after the fall of Tsar Nicholas II.
During the 1992-1993 war in Abkhazia, the Georgian Orthodox church effectively lost control of Abkhazian church affairs as ethnically Georgian priests had to flee Abkhazia and the Abkhaz Priest Vissarion Aplaa became acting head of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian eparchy. In the following years, recently consecrated clerics from the neighbouring Russian Maykop Eparchy arrived in Abkhazia, who eventually came into conflict with Vissarion. Through the mediation of Russian church officials, the two sides managed to reach a power-sharing agreement at Maikop in 2005, but this did not hold.
In April 2008, the last Georgian Orthodox priest remaining in the predominantly Georgian-populated Gali district
Gali district
Gali district is a district of Abkhazia. Its capital is Gali, the town by the same name. The district is smaller than the eponymous one in the de jure subdivision of Georgia, as some of its former territory is now part of Tkvarcheli District, formed by de facto Abkhaz authorities in 1995.Gali...
was expelled, reportedly by Abkhaz security officers, after a "special decree" of the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy, effectively leaving the local Georgian community without access to clergy. After the capture of the Upper Kodori Valley
Battle of the Kodori Valley
The Battle of Kodori Valley was a military operation in the Upper Kodori Valley, during the 2008 South Ossetia war, the only part of Abkhazia, which remained under Georgian control after the War in Abkhazia from 1992 to 1993. Hostilities started, during the 2008 South Ossetia war, the Abkhazian...
during the August 2008 war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
, the two remaining monasteries of Georgian Orthodox monks and nuns there were pressured by the Abkhazian authorities to submit to the Abkhazian Orthodox authorities or else leave Abkhazia. The Abkhazian Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvinjia said the Abkhazian authorities did not plan to defend Georgian monks and nuns. The monks and nuns refused, and in April 2009, they were expelled from Abkhazia.
On 15 September 2009, the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy led by Vissarion declared that it no longer considered itself part of the Georgian Orthodox Church, that it was re-establishing the Catholicate of Abkhazia
Catholicate of Abkhazia
The Catholicate of Abkhazia was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by the Catholicos of Abkhazia, officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch of Imereti, Odishi, Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria,...
, and that it would henceforth be known as the Abkhazian Orthodox Church.
Islam
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
. There are two mosques in Abkhazia, one in Gudauta
Gudauta
Gudauta is a town in Abkhazia and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia....
and one in Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
.
History of Islam in Abkhazia
- For more details, see Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians and Circassians in TurkeyCircassians in TurkeyThe Circassians in Turkey are with 2 millions one of the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. Among the Circassians in Turkey are also the closely related ethnic groups Abazins and Abkhazians counted...
Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
spread in Abkhazia during the times of Ottoman
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...
domination in the region from the 16th until the 18th century. Throughout the 19th century Russo-Turkish wars, Abkhazian nobility was split along religious lines, with Christians being generally pro-Russian, and Muslims siding with the Ottomans against Russia. Russia's final victory in the area in the 1860s-70s and two Abkhazian revolts forced most of Muslim Abkhaz to emigrate to the Ottoman Empire as Muhajirs
Muhajir (Caucasus)
Circassians, the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Caucasus were cleansed from their homeland at the end of the Caucasian War by victorious Russia, which by its manner of suppression of the Caucasus directed at the Crimean Tartars and Circassians can be credited with "inventing the strategy of...
in the 1870s.
A spiritual leader of the Abkhaz Muslims and imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
of the Gudauta
Gudauta
Gudauta is a town in Abkhazia and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia....
Mosque, Hamzat (Rokki) Gitsba, was assassinated in Gudauta on 18 August 2007. The death of Gitsba, who had fought against Georgians during the 1992-1993 war and was among pro-Chechen hijackers of a Turkish passenger ship Avrasia in 1996, as well as other facts of alleged anti-Muslim discrimination led to serious concerns by the Abkhaz Muslim community about their security. On October 8, 2010, unknown gunmen attacked the Gudauta mosque, killing one and wounding two locals.
Thousands of Abkhaz, known as makhadjiri, fled Abkhazia for 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...
in the mid-19th century after resisting the Russian
Russian 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...
conquest of the Caucasus. Today, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
is home to the world's largest Abkhaz diaspora community. Size estimates vary - Diaspora leaders say 1 million people; Abkhaz estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000.
In 2009, Muslims in Abkhazia for the first time received an invitation from the King of Saudi Arabia to go on the Hajj
Hajj
The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so...
to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
.
Target killings of Muslim clergy
Members of Abkhazian Muslim clergy faced target killings in 2007-2011. Muslim cleric Emik Chakmachogly was shot dead on July 17 in the AbkhaziaAbkhazia
Abkhazia is a disputed political entity on the eastern coast of the Black Sea and the south-western flank of the Caucasus.Abkhazia considers itself an independent state, called the Republic of Abkhazia or Apsny...
Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
town of Gagra
Gagra
Gagra is a town in Abkhazia, Georgia’s breakaway republic, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains...
, just one week after a failed attempt on the life of Salih Kvaratskhelia, Imam
Imam
An imam is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question...
of the Sukhumi
Sukhumi
Sukhumi is the capital of Abkhazia, a disputed region on the Black Sea coast. The city suffered heavily during the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in the early 1990s.-Naming:...
Mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
. In August 2007, a member of the Muslim community in Sukhumi was gunned down on the street together with his wife. Two weeks later, Khamzat Gitsba, Imam of the Gudauta
Gudauta
Gudauta is a town in Abkhazia and a centre of the eponymous district. It is situated on the Black Sea, 37 km northwest to Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia....
mosque, was shot dead in broad daylight, together with a Russian citizen from Bashkortostan
Bashkortostan
The Republic of Bashkortostan , also known as Bashkiria is a federal subject of Russia . It is located between the Volga River and the Ural Mountains. Its capital is the city of Ufa...
.
See also
- Religion in GeorgiaReligion in Georgia (country)The wide variety of peoples inhabiting Georgia has meant a correspondingly rich array of active religions. Today most of the population in Georgia practices Orthodox Christianity, primarily the Georgian Orthodox Church. Of these , around 2% follow the Russian Orthodox Church. Around 3.9% of the...
- Religion in present-day nations and states
- Ethnic Cleansing of Circassians
- Circassians in TurkeyCircassians in TurkeyThe Circassians in Turkey are with 2 millions one of the largest ethnic minority in Turkey. Among the Circassians in Turkey are also the closely related ethnic groups Abazins and Abkhazians counted...