Diocese of Bolnis ( Georgian ბოლნისის ეპარქია ) - diocese of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the territory of the Bolnisi municipality of Georgia.
History
The Bolnisi diocese was founded in the 5th century under King Vakhtang Gorgasali , being one of the twelve dioceses of the Georgian Orthodox Church that arose [1] . Its cathedral was the Bolnisi Zion of 478–493, built to this day and has become a unique monument and spiritual stronghold of Orthodoxy in this land [2] .
In the second half of the 18th century, the Akhtal diocese was established, which, along with the territories of the Agarak, Tsalka and Dmanis dioceses, included the territories of the Bolnisi diocese [3] .
After the abolition of the autocephaly of the Church of Eastern Georgia (Mtskheta Catholicosate) in 1811, the territory of the Dmanisi diocese became part of the Mtskheta-Kartalinskaya (since 1818 - Kartalino-Kakheti) diocese of the Georgian exarchate [3] .
In 1917, after the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was restored by an explicit procedure, the territories of the Agarak, Tsalka, Dmanisi and Bolnisi dioceses became part of the Tiflis (1917-1920), then the Tiflis-Mtskheta diocese [3] .
In June 1927, at the IV Local Council of the Georgian Orthodox Church, these territories, together with Lore-Tashiri, were included in the restored ancient Akhtalsko-Pentelitar (Beshtashen) diocese, and from the 1950s the Agarak-Tsalka diocese [3] .
In September 1995, at the XIII Local Council of the Georgian Orthodox Church from the Manglis and Agarak-Tsalka diocese, the Bolnisi-Dmanisi diocese was allocated [3] .
The diocese was restored ancient temples of monasteries, the number of clergy and monks is multiplying. The diocese is located on the border with Azerbaijan, there are many Muslim Azerbaijanis [1] .
On August 18, 2003, by the decision of the Holy Synod, the Dmanisi diocese was separated from Bolnisi, and therefore its name was reduced to simply Bolnisi.
Bishops
- Thaddeus (Ioramashvili) (April 4, 1995 - June 27, 2005)
- Yehudidiil (Tabatadze) (June 27, 2005 - December 21, 2006)
- Efrem (Gamrekelidze) (since December 31, 2006)
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 “For God, nationality does not matter, the main thing is faith, which reunites the whole world” / Orthodoxy.Ru
- ↑ L.A. Perfiliev. BOLNISSKY ZION // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church and Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2002. - T. V. - S. 652-653. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89572-010-2 .
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 Ep. Zeno (Iarajuli). DMANISSK DIOCESE // Orthodox Encyclopedia . - M .: Church Scientific Center "Orthodox Encyclopedia" , 2007. - T. XV. - S. 421-422. - 752 s. - 39,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-89572-026-4 .