Abkhazian Orthodox Church

The Abkhazian Orthodox Church (Abkhaz: Аԥсны Аиашахаҵаратә ауахәама, romanized: Apsnə Ajašaxac̣araṭ° awax°ama, Russian: Абхазская Православная церковь, romanized: Abkhazskaya Pravoslavnaya tserkov') is an Eastern Orthodox church outside the official Eastern Orthodox ecclesiastical hierarchy. It came into existence when the Sukhumi-Abkhazian Eparchy declared on 15 September 2009 that it no longer considered itself part of the Georgian Orthodox Church (but is considered as part of Georgian Orthodox Church by every Orthodox patriarchate including Russian) and that it was "re-establishing the Catholicate of Abkhazia disbanded in 1795". Vissarion Aplaa is the Primate of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church since 2009 and is the self-proclaimed catholicos of the Church. It has two eparchies (dioceses) in Pitsunda and Sukhumi and is organized in 9 parishes.