FROM THE SACRED CANONS 

“THERE has been given a law whereby each ad every person may by free choice undertake the struggle of Christianity”

Canon 119 of the Council of Carthage, 418 / 419 A.D.

 

POINTS  FROM  CORRESPONDENCE 

“THERE IS a Georgian Church here in Dublin, which separated from the Russian Church, possibly because of ecumenism.  I don’t know the details, but one Sunday the Georgian residents were at the Russian services as usual, but on the next Sunday there were none, and haven’t been for some months now.  They now have a Georgian priest here in Dublin, but I do not know where their services are held, though every Sunday I believe. Has this Church any relations with your Greek SiR Church?  Or are they an isolated group?

“The fact that they broke away from the Russian Church in Dublin senses they oppose ecumenism, and the WCC.  But it may be more political - Russia claims Georgian territory, there are many ‘incidents’ along the border areas.  I am so confused lately with what is happening within the Church.  When I go on the internet I read of discontent.  So I am wondering about the Georgian Church - are they still tied to Moscow?”   R. J. M., Dublin

 

REPLY:   I do not know the church situation in Dublin, of course, - … - but I suspect that the Georgians setting up their own parish has nothing to do with the Moscow Patriarchate’s increasing ecumenism.  In London too they have a separate parish now. 

The Georgian Church was, of course, historically separate from the Russian one.  It is a much older Church dating from the fourth century.   Georgia was taken into the Russian Empire in the early nineteenth century and shortly afterwards, the Church there lost her autocephaly and was ruled from Moscow.  Unfortunately rather heavy-handedly the Russians tried to Slavize them.   From 1917 - 1921, the country and Church regained independence, but were back under Moscow during the Soviet period.  Then again when the Soviet regime fell they managed to gain their independence.  So, I suspect that the separate parishes in London and Dublin are simply signs that there are more Georgians abroad these days, and that they no longer belong to the Russian Church.

In recent times, the Georgian Church has been a little less enthusiastic about ecumenism than the Moscow Patriarchate - for instance, she withdrew from the WCC, but this stance seems to be somewhat half-hearted and there are two factions which have separated from the official Church because they do not accept her ecumenism.  One of these, the Orthodox Eparchy of Gldani is under the Synod of Resistance, presided over by our Metropolitan Cyprian of Oropos and Fili, and the other, rather oddly, is under the “Holy Orthodox Church of North America,” which, according to OrthodoxWiki (their own website has little information) has a hermitage there.  I suspect your Dublin group, however, belongs to the  Patriarchate of Georgia, and they have separated simply to maintain their own ethnic and cultural identity and the age-old traditions of their Mother Land.