Abkhaz ex-Prime Minister Anri Jergeniya published an article in the Yedinaya Abkhazia paper, criticizing Archmandrite Dorofey and monks of the Novoafonsky Monastery for their strive for autocephaly granted by the Constantinople patriarch.
Abkhaz MPs Oleg Dameniya, Valery Gurjua, David Pilia, Klimentiy Jinjolia and Stanislav Lakoba responded with a letter accusing the ex-prime minister of dialogue with Georgia under mediation of the Georgian and Russian Orthodox Churches.
Alexey Vlasov, Editor-in-Chief of Vestnik Kavkaza, said that the problem became a matter of the political future of Abkhazia. The position of church authorities is often a mixture of both faith and political technology, attempts to address the public opinion and using feelings of the followers.
