Abkhazia to Recognize Orthodoxy as National Faith

A draft law on religion under consideration in the Abkhazian Parliament has been modified to recognize the role Orthodox Christianity plays in Abkhazian life. A previous version had included references to paganism, Orthodoxy, and Islam. While recognizing Orthodoxy's place in Abkhazia the draft law would also maintain the secular nature of the country's government. More here.

Abkhaz Orthodox Faction Calls for Quick Autocephaly, Use of Abkhaz

Abkhazian Orthodox remain divided between two pro-autocephaly factions, one hoping for the help of the Moscow Patriarchate in negotiating autocephaly for the Church of Abkhazia from the Georgian Orthodox Church and the other pressing more strongly for immediate autocephaly and the wider use of the Abkhaz language in the divine services. More here.

Abkhazia Votes for New President

Abkhazians are voting today to elect their next president, who will be the third elected since Abkhazia gained independence from neighboring Georgia in the 1990s. No clear frontrunner emerged prior to today's elections, with three main candidates competing for votes. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the total votes, then a run-off election will be held between the two leading candidates. More here.

Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Blames Outside Forces for Division with Abkhazia

Commenting on the 19th anniversary of the Abkhazian war for independence, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of the Georgian Orthodox Church has said that Georgians and Abkhaz need one another and that it is outside forces that are trying to ruin the "good relations" between the Georgian and Abkhaz nations, not the tide of Georgian nationalism that has swept the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union. More (in Greek) here.

South Ossetia, Abkhazia Free to Join Russian Federation

In a televised interview with Russia Today on the 2008 Ossetian War Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev has stated that there are no standing preconditions preventing South Ossetia or Abkhazia from joining the Russian Federation. Although the Russian government recognizes the independence of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia it has also allowed Abkhazian and South Ossetian citizens to become Russian citizens due to the limited international recognize of the South Ossetian government. More here.

Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Praises Late Abkhazian President

Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of the Georgian Orthodox Church has praised the newly reposed Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh in his condolences to the latter's family as "a dignified member of the Abkhazian people and [an] Orthodox Christian." More here.

Abkhazian President Dies in Moscow

President Sergei Bagapsh of Abkhazia has died in Moscow following complications from lung surgery he underwent in the Russian capital. His vice-president, Alyksandr Ankvab, is now Abkhazia's acting president. More here.

Moscow Patriarchate Rejects Abkhazian Orthodox Attempt to Organize a Metropolia at New Athos

The Moscow Patriarchate has rejected an attempt by the Abkhazian Orthodox clergy and laity to establish a metropolitanate for the Church of Abkhazia, reaffirming the necessity of an existing hierarchy for the organization of an independent Orthodox Church. More here.

Abkhazian Orthodox Conference Appeals to World Orthodox Churches

The Georgian Orthodox Church has called on a national conference of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church to give up its call for the restoration of its past autocephaly and submit to the Georgian-dominated Patriarchate of Mtskheta-Tbilisi. The conference itself organized the Orthodox Church in Abkhazia as an archdiocese with its see at the New Athos Monastery and appealed to the first hierarchs of the Local Orthodox Churches to work together to resolve the status of the Church of Abkhazia. More here.

Russia Approves Visa-Free Travel with South Ossetia, Abkhazia

The Russian government has concluded agreements with the newly independent states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia allowing for visa-free travel between the three countries. More here.

Issue of Liturgical Languages in Abkhazia

The Abkhazian Orthodox Church continues to struggle towards autocephaly, with disagreements over liturgical languages (with an apparent divide between clergy favoring Abkhaz and others favoring Slavonic, of all things) complicating matters. More here.

Abkhazian Politician Speaks Out on New Athos Dispute

An Abkhazian opposition leader, Raul Khajimba, has spoken on the recent dispute over the New Athos Monastery, saying that the Russian Orthodox Church should respect the self-governance of the Abkhaz Orthodox as they work to reestablish an independent Church of Abkhazia. More here.

Abkhazian President Denies Rumors of Territories Ceded to Russia

President Sergei Bagapsh of Abkhazia has denied rumors that Russia is annexing territories on the border between Abkhazia and Russia. More here.

Abkhazian President Returns from Turkey

President Sergei U. Bagapsh of Abkhazia has completed his first state visit to Turkey. During the visit Bagapsh sought to improve economic relations between the two countries and also called on the Abkhaz living in Turkey to return to their homeland to assist in its development. (Roughly 500,000 Abkhaz live in Turkey, a number nearly three times the size of Abkhazia's estimated current population.) More here.

Georgians, Russians Uninvolved in New Athos Dispute

The Georgian Orthodox Church is reporting that Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev) of Volokolamsk denies any involvement in the recent attempt to apppoint an abbot for the New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia. More here.

Abkhazian Orthodox Protest Russian Orthodox Abbot

Abkhazian Orthodox clergy are protesting a decision to appoint an ethnic Russian as head of a historically Russian Orthodox monastery in Abkhazia, saying that the leading clergy of the Church of Abkhazia should be ethnic Abkhazians regardless of the leadership's warm relations with the Moscow Patriarchate. More here and here.

Abkhazia, Georgia, and the EU

In talks with Georgia late last month the Abkhazian government has demanded that it hand over detainees from the Abkhazian War of Independence. This comes as the country campaigns for wider international recognition, particularly in Latin America, and as the European Union introduces a policy of "integration without recognition" that is providing humanitarian development aid to Abkhazia without formally recognizing its independence. Abkhazia has also begun a new post-war census to more accurately determine the size and composition of the country's population. (Figures from a 2003 census are disputed.)

Ilia II of Georgia Confirms Intention to Visit Abkhazia

In a recent television interview Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) of Mtskheta-Tbilisi has confirmed his intention to visit Abkhazia as its ruling hierarch, saying that he knows the Abkhaz people "very well" from his years there. Whether the Abkhazian government will allow such a visit and how the Abkhaz Orthodox faithful would react to it remains to be seen. More here.

Ilia II Calls for Prayers for Submission of Abkhazia and South Ossetia

At the Sunday Liturgy this past weekend Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili) of Mtskheta called on the Georgian Orthodox faithful to pray for the reunion of the Abkhazian and Ossetian Orthodox Churches with the Church of Georgia, saying that God will forgive them for their separation from Georgia and that he plans to visit Abkhazia "soon." More here.

Armenia, Artsakh, and Abkhazia in the News

President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia has repeated Armenia's intention not to recognize the independence of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Kosovo until the status of the Armenian Republic of Artsakh on the territory of what was Nagorno-Karabakh and southwestern Azerbaijan. Although the governments of Armenia and Artsakh are close the former does not formally recognize Artsakh's independence from Azerbaijan in the hope of resolving the dispute between Azerbaijan and its former region peacefully. More on President Sargsian's statements here.

In other news, representatives of Abkhazia's Armenian minority recently met with President Sergey Bagapsh of Abkhazia to discuss the role of the community in developing the country. More on that here. The Armenian government, despite its reluctance to recognize Abkhazian independence, is active in supporting that country's Armenian minority, as evidenced by its recent donation of Armenian-language books to Abkhazia's Armenian schools.

And lastly, the Russian government has given Abkhazia a loan of $67 million to rehabilitate its railway system, which was damaged during the country's war for independence with Georgia. More on that here.