Novoafonsky (New Athos) Monastery in Abkhazia
Sukhumi, 5 September 2008 (Interfax):
The Orthodox Church in Abkhazian wants to be an autonomous Church under the Moscow Patriarchate, Fr Vissarion Aplia, the administrator of the Diocese of Sukhumi and Abkhazia told journalists. Orthodox believers in Abkhazia asked the Moscow Patriarchate for such a status “more than once before, but, the non–recognition of the republic was the main obstacle for the resolution of the question”, he noted. “We were in a very difficult situation after Georgian-Abkhazian war of 1992-93 and the MP was the first to extend help to the Abkhazian Church, although we asked the whole Orthodox world for help”, Fr Vissarion said. “Today, now that Russia recognises Abkhazia’s independence, we intend to ask again that this question be resolved”, he further said.
Meanwhile, at the end of August, the Moscow Patriarchate stated that although Russia politically recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia, this did not necessarily mandate changes in the canonical territories of the Moscow and Georgian Patriarchates. “A political decision was taken and we must respect it because it is based on a unanimous vote of all the MPs from both chambers of the Russian parliament”, Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, deputy head of the MP Department for External Church Relations told Interfax-Religion. However, he went on to say, “Political decisions don’t define church jurisdictions and spheres of pastoral responsibility. These questions should be settled canonically in the course of dialogue between the two Local (Russian and Georgian: Interfax) Churches”.
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=26360 (in Russian)
