Concerning the Institution of ‘მოსაყდრე’ [Mosaq’dre]

Abstract

The appointment of the locum tenens of the Patriarch of Georgia was a particularly resonant event. Some religious experts say the term ‘მოსაყდრე’ is very strange in church practice; that it is not canonical both in form and in content and is the result of Russian influence. These statements are incorrect and unacceptable.

In order to identify the Greek equivalents of ‘მოსაყდრე’, we searched for the term in medieval ecclesiastical sources. The Byzantine Church authorities had a complex bureaucratic system with administrative duplications. There were many high administrative positions with different titles and almost similar duties and responsibilities. Over the centuries, even in post-imperial times, these titles changed their form and meaning. Therefore, these terminological connotations need thorough analysis.

The main Greek equivalent of the ‘მოსაყდრე’ is ‘τοποτηρητής’. According to historical materials, in the Byzantine and Ottoman periods, τοποτηρητής was the representative of the Patriarch at official meetings. There were also cases when the patriarch of one autocephalous church was a τοποτηρητής of another autocephalous church, when its patriarchal throne was vacant. In the modern time autocephalous churches do not have common practice in relation to τοποτηρητής, and it has more or less different duties.

Our research shows that the term ‘მოსაყდრე’ actually derives from patristic and Byzantine ecclesiastical traditions, and Georgian Church practice in the Middle Ages was the same as Greek-orthodox canon law. But medieval Georgian chronicles show that in some cases, when the Georgian states were in a turbulent political situation, there were exceptions.