Abkhaz president calls for church independence

The president of the semi-recognized republic of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, has called for the independence of the Abkhaz Orthodox Church. According to the president, the Abkhaz Church should be independent under the auspices of the Russian Orthodox Church.

"The Moscow Patriarch should undertake this hard mission," Ankvab says.

The Abkhaz Church is currently a part of the Georgian Church, but since the Georgian Patriarch supported the Georgian military operation in the republic in the 90s, relations between the two churches have been in a state of crisis.

Russia's late Patriarch Alexey II opposed the idea of an amalgamation of the Abkhaz Church and the Russian Orthodox Church.