Catholicate of Abkhazia

This is usually associated with the consecration of Archbishop Joachime of Tsaish and Bedia, as Catholicos of Abkhazia by Michael IV, the Patriarch of Antioch, during the rule of the Imeretian king Bagrat VI (1463-1478).[3] To justify the break with the Mtskheta see, Michael issued a special document, The Law of Faith, in which he stated that western and eastern Georgia had different histories of conversion and, therefore, they should be independent from each other.At various periods of its existence, the Catholicate of Abkhazia was subdivided into several dioceses (eparchies), including those of Bichvinta, Kutaisi, Gelati, Tsageri, Tsaishi, Tsalenjikha, Chkondidi, Khoni, Ninotsminda, Nikortsminda, Shemokmedi, Jumati, Dranda, Bedia and Mokvi, centered on the respective cathedrals.[1] In the latter part of the 16th century, Catholicos Patriarch Eudemos I (Chkheidze) had to move his residence from Bichvinta to the Gelati Monastery at Kutaisi, fleeing the Ottoman expansion into Abkhazia.The Catholicoi of Abkhazia mostly came from the leading Georgian noble houses, and were able to support the church financially and secure its continuous involvement in the political and cultural life of western Georgia.