It is one of the oldest national churches in the world, rooted in the fourth century conversion of Iberia and headed by the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia in Tbilisi.
The Georgian Orthodox Church traces its origins to the preaching associated with Saint Nino and the conversion of King Mirian III in the fourth century. Its autocephaly, abolished under Russian rule in the nineteenth century, was restored in 1917 and was recognized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1990.
Sources
Primary
- Act of Restoration of the Autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church (1917)
Secondary
- Ronald Roberson, The Eastern Christian Churches: A Brief Survey