პოლონეთის არქივის (CAW) დოკუმენტი 1930 წელს კავკასიაში კათოლიკური ეკლესიის მდგომარეობის შესახებ
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Date
2024-02-14
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ივანე ჯავახიშვილის სახელობის თბილისის სახელმწიფო უნივერსიტეტის გამომცემლობა
Abstract
The Central Archive of Poland (CAW) keeps an interesting document
that provides information about the situation of the Catholic Church in
the Caucasus in 1930. This is the report of the Polish Consul, General Zigmund
Mostowski, from Tbilisi, which was sent to Warsaw on October 30,
1930.
“The Polish colony in the Caucasus before the world war had, thanks
to its efforts, numerous Polish churches served by Polish priests. After
the Sovietisation of the Transcaucasian countries, the fate of the Polish
churches, as everywhere in the Soviet Union, was extremely difficult. In
recent years, they have had to struggle not only for the right to exist, but
also to overcome the enormous material difficulties faced by the Soviet
authorities. Treating them as private enterprises, the authorities imposed
extremely high taxes on the churches, which are extremely difficult
to collect through contributions from impoverished parishioners. On the
other hand, they were forced to fight against the repressive measures taken
by the Soviet authorities against priests. As a result of this struggle,
in spite of the existence of a considerable, though fragmented, Polish colony,
there has not been a single Polish priest for a long time. It must be
said, however, that the Polish Catholics were helped in this respect by
Georgian priests, who took over the parishes of Polish churches and, in
many cases, learned the Polish language in order to better meet the spiritual
needs of their Polish parishioners. However, the Soviet authorities
did not stop their action against the clergy even for a moment. Many priests
among the clergy broke down under the influence of the authorities
to the extent that they tried to reconcile their duties towards the church
and the parishioners with the duties imposed on them by the Soviet authorities
and, above all, by the GPU. However, many of them, unable to
enter into this kind of compromise with the Soviet authorities, are subjected
to continuous detention, ending in exile or even execution.
Recently, the Consulate General became aware of the shooting of Fr.
Aslanishvili, the former parish priest of the Catholic Church in Batum, and
of the sacking of three priests, namely: Ludvik Batimanishvili, Konstantin
Sabarashvili and Stanislav Katchikashvili. The Consulate has not been able
to establish what the above-mentioned priests were accused of.
Według uzyskanych informacji, w krajach Zakaukazia pozostało 17
księży, w tym 5 księży ormiańskokatolickich. Kapłani ci wykonują swoje
obowiązki duszpasterskie w następujących miejscach, a mianowicie: in Tiflis - Fr. Emanuel Wardidze,
in Tiflys - Fr. Stefan Georgizo, Assyrian,
in Baku – Fr. Stefan Demurow aka Demurashvili,
in Batum – Fr. Rafael Niebieradze,
in Kutaisis – Fr. Damjan Lago,
in Akhaltsi - Fr. Pavel Tatenashvili,
in Akhaltsi - Fr. Seraphim Merabishvili,
and two parishes of the Akhaltsi district, namely:
in Uda – Fr. Gabriel Garanaszuli,
and Wale – priest Konstantin Shishaberidze.
Furthermore, there are Roman-Catholic priests in Akhalkalaki, Gori
and in two other places; however, the Consulate has not been able to
establish the names of these priests. In addition to the above-mentioned,
there are also 4 Armenian-Catholic priests, of whom one in
Yerevan and one in Leninakan. All the above-mentioned priests are local
citizens and also cater for the spiritual needs of the Polish population.
In recent times the existing Catholic churches in 7 places in the
Transcaucasian countries (among others in Sukhum and White Key) have
already been closed down for the lack of priests. A Catholic chapel in
Tiflis has also been closed.”
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თბილისის უნივერსიტეტის დაარსებისადმი მიძღვნილი სამეცნიერო კონფერენცია. თსუ 106, თეზისები, 2024, გვ.: 27-31 / Scientific conference dedicated to the foundation of Tbilisi University. TSU 106, Abstracts, 2024, pp.: 27-31