Historic documents tell it all
07/02/2012
Disturbing news is coming from Abkhazia. With instigation of the Moscow Patriarchate and through blindness of the separatist authorities of Abkhazia vandals of the XXI century are purposely destroying all Georgian trace on monuments of cultural heritage.
As a result of so-called restoration works in the Ilori St. George Church of the XI century authenticity of the monument has been completely erased and features characteristic of the traditional Georgian church architecture disappeared. A Russian-style, so-called onion-like dome was erected on top of the church, Georgian lapidary inscriptions on the eastern wall of the church were whitewashed and domes were painted in red.
The fresco of the first king of the unified Georgian state Bagrat III Bagrationi and Georgian inscriptions were erased in the Bedia Church in the Ochamchire district that was built by his where he and his mother Queen Gurandukht are buried.
The Georgian side appealed to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre to help save other Georgian monuments and churches from the fate of the churches of Ilori and Bedia.
The state strictly protects historical cultural monuments and in Abkhazia there have never been and are not now any Georgian cultural heritage monuments – unambiguously and categorically states chief historian of the protection of the historical and cultural heritage of the separatist Abkhazia Anzor Agumaa.
Against this background, on February 3rd with the clear order of the Russian Patriarchate the separatist authorities of Abkhazia urgently organized so-called people gathering at the central square of Sukhumi in the freezing temperatures where its participants unanimously declared about restoration of the independence of the “Abkhazian Orthodox Church” and its separation from the Georgian Orthodox Church space. Every participant of the event was to sign a document about the secession. Although many of them, including members of the government and the parliament that were organizers of the event, have till now been declaring themselves Muslims and even pagans and have never even stepped inside a Christian church.
According to parliamentarian Batal Kobakhia and historian Oleg Bgazhba “nothing extraordinary is happening, the Abkhazian church is just returning to the family of the Orthodox churches”.
The material that was prepared regarding this issue by journalist Levon Galustian says: “main participants of the gathering were ministers, members of the parliament, university teachers, students, successful businessmen and bankers” and then “words of gratitude were often heard from the tribune toward Father Vissarion Apliaa for his great service in the matter of building the Abkhazian Orthodoxy. Many times were also mentioned about contribution of the Russian Orthodox Church. In the time of the difficult years of the war and afterwards as well it has not stopped giving its spiritual care for Abkhazian believers. One of the clauses of the appeal that was approved at the gathering was also dedicated to the role of the Moscow Patriarchate”.
Lately, with regards to anti-government rallies that started in Moscow and other cities of Russia Russian Patriarch Kirill publicly stated that Orthodox Christians were to go only to churches to pray and not to streets to rally. Now probably His Holiness will feel a little awkward when he hears that at the Sukhumi gathering he was mentioned and thanked alongside well-known “spiritual father” of so-called thieves-in-law Vissarion Apliaa who instead of praying in the church was running around with a gun in hand together with other criminals to expel hundreds of thousands of Orthodox Christians from their homes and to destroy them.
It is not a secret at all that processes that have evolved with such speed in Abkhazia are aimed at yet another attempt to separate Abkhazia from Georgia, to create another barrier on the road of return of Abkhazians and Circassians of Muslim faith from Syria and other countries to their historical homelands and to set Abkhazians against the Adyge peoples.
Actions of the separatist authorities of Abkhazia who are obedient and silent followers of the Moscow instructions could not have been any different. But how shameless must be those historians that brazenly maintain that there are no Georgian historical monuments on the territory of Abkhazia and Abkhazian Orthodox Christians have nothing in common with Georgians. And that when they well know that after Christianity came into Georgia all Orthodox Christian churches in Abkhazia were built by Georgians and Abkhazians and church service in these churches, even at the time of the big influence of the Byzantine influence, were conducted in Georgian language using chrism consecrated in the main Georgian cathedral Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta. They can destroy monuments, erase inscriptions, but they cannot wipe out true history told by foreign and local chroniclers.
We do not consider it to be to much to remind those historians at least data on those primates of the church that on the course of centuries were at the helm of congregation of Abkhazia i.e. western Georgia. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia (western Georgia) such as Simon, Nikoloz, Daniel, Arseni and Joakim led the church before XIV century. Their work was continued by the following Patriarchs:
Stephan – Catholicos patriarch of Abkhazia (western Georgia) 1490-1516
Malakia I (Abashidze) – 1519-1540. He had a residence in Bichvinta.
Evdemon I (Chkhetidze) – 1557-1578. Catholicos Patriarch of Abkhazia (western Georgia). He was buried in the St. George Church in Gelati.
Eftvime (Ekvtime) I (Sakvarelidze) – 1578-1616. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia (western Georgia).
Malakia II (Gurieli) – 1616-1639. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia. By his order “Selection of Bitchvinta manuscripts” was compiled, as well as Great book of Peasants of the Land of the Abkhazian Catholicos. Malakia II ordered to the icon of the St. Andrew that was rested in an adorned coffin and placed in the Bichvinta church.
Maxime I (Machutadze) – 1639-1657. Died in Jerusalem in 1957 and was buried in the Monastery of the Cross there.
Svimon (Chkhetidze) – 1660-1666. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia.
Evdemon II (Sakvarelidze) -1666-1669. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia.
Ekvtime II (Sakvarelidze) – 1669-1973. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia.
Davit (Nemsadze) – 1673-1696. Davit stopped Abkhazian prince Kvapu Shervashidze from selling serfs as slaves.
Grigol II (Lortkipanidze) – 1696-1742. He prompted king of Imereti and princes of Odishi and Guria and others to present lands and serfs to the Bitchvinta monastery. He actively fought against the spread of Islam and selling of serfs.
Besarion (Eristavi) – 1769-1776. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia.
Ioseb (Bagrationi) – 1769-1776. Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia. He is buried in Gelati Monastery.
Maxime II (Abashize) – 1776-1795. The last Catholicos patriarch of Abkhazia ( western Georgia). In 1768 the King of Imereti Solomon I sent him as an ambassador to the Russian imperial court to ask for help against the ottomans. He died in Kiev in 1795 and was buried in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra.
Dositeos (Tsereteli) – 1795-1814.
After a period of Moscow-sent Russian exarches this list was continued with Catholicos-Patriarchs of All Georgia after restoration of autocephaly:
Kirion II (Sadzaglishvili) – 1917-1917
Leonide (Okropiridze) – 1919-1921
Ambrosi (Khelaya) – 1921-1927
Christephore III (Tsitskishvili) – 1927-1932
Kalistrate (Tsintsadze) – 1932-1952
Melkisedek III (Pkhaladze) – 1952-1960
Efrem II (Sidamonidze) – 1960-1972
David VI (Devdariani) – 1972-1977
From 1977 works of these respected church people was continued by the metropolitan of Abkhazia (1967-1977), today’s patriarch, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II who always blesses the Orthodox congregation of Abkhazia with special warmth and love.
Artificial separation of Abkhazian people from Georgians, attempt of their alienation from the Adyge peoples and compatriots living abroad will remain just an attempt and it is doomed for a failure.
