Section 07: The Church She Founded

The institutional church that grew from Nino’s mission and its fusion with the Georgian nation. The first file traces the Church of Iberia: its first clergy sought from Constantine, its long subordination to Antioch (whose patriarch consecrated the early Georgian bishops), the contested fifth-century grant of autocephaly, the eleventh-century Catholicos-Patriarchate, and the modern history of abolition under Russia, restoration in 1917, and recognition by Constantinople in 1990 — with the genuine disputes over the autocephaly dates flagged. The second file treats the near-total fusion of faith with Georgian national identity in which St. Nino stands at the center.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox / Pan-Orthodox

Contents

File Topic
Georgian Christianity After Nino The organization of the Iberian church; its early ties to Antioch; the path toward autocephaly (the contested fifth-century grant); the Catholicos-Patriarchate; the modern history of the status, with both-sides care on the live questions
Nino and the Georgian Nation The fusion of faith and national identity; the Church as carrier of Georgian identity through foreign domination; the symbols of the fusion; reading the fusion with care

How to Use

  • Read Georgian Christianity After Nino for the institutional history — from mission church to autocephalous patriarchate — and for the genuinely disputed dating of the autocephaly.
  • Read Nino and the Georgian Nation for the fusion of the Christian faith with Georgian peoplehood, and for the care the repository brings to claims that bind a faith to a nation.
  • The grapevine cross, the most visible token of the fusion, is in Section 06; the title that holds Nino to the universal Church is in Section 09.

Cross-References