Kalistrate

Kalistrate [April 12 (24), 1866, village of Tobanieri, modern Vani Municipality – February 3, 1952, Tbilisi], Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1932 to 1952.

He studied at Kutaisi Theological School and Tbilisi Theological Seminary, and subsequently from 1888 to 1892 at Kiev Theological Academy, where he mastered Greek, Latin, and Slavic languages. He was awarded the degree of Candidate of Theology there in 1892.

Upon his return to Georgia, Kalistrate was ordained as a deacon on April 2, 1893, and as a priest on April 18, being appointed rector of the Didube Church of the Mother of God. From 1903, he continued his clerical service at the Kashveti Church. In 1909, he was elevated to the rank of Archpriest (dekanozi). He was one of the authors of the project for the restoration and administrative governance of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church. In 1923, he was sentenced to imprisonment on charges of anti-Soviet activities, but was released by amnesty at the end of that same year.

In 1925, with the blessing of Catholicos-Patriarch Ambrosi, Kalistrate was consecrated as Bishop of Ninotsminda. Shortly thereafter, he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan. From 1927, he administered the Eparchy of Manglisi. After his enthronement as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, he spared no effort to halt the systematic closure, plundering, and destruction of churches and monasteries. Kalistrate actively campaigned for the recognition of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church by the global Orthodox churches; as a result of these efforts, the Russian Church officially recognized the independence of the Georgian Church for the first time in 1943, which obviously was authorized at the highest political level.

Alongside his ecclesiastical service, Kalistrate was heavily engaged in civic and scientific activities. From 1897 to 1921, he served as secretary of the Ecclesiastical Museum; from 1896 to 1917, he was a member of the Commission for the Correction of Georgian Liturgical Books, secretary of the Committee for the Restoration of the Mtskheta Temples, a board member of the Historical and Ethnographic Society of Georgia, and a co-founder of the Georgian Philharmonic Society. He contributed significantly to the acquisition and collection of historical Georgian manuscripts. He also demonstrated deep pastoral care toward the population and historical monuments of the Georgian provinces located within the territory of Turkey.

In 1905, Kalistrate published his monograph Историческая справка по вопросу об автокефальности Грузинской церкви ("Historical reference on the question of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church"), which became a manual and a credible scientific proof for Georgian autocephalists. He is also the author of Notes from the History of the Church of Georgia, On the Worldview of the Author of The Knight in the Panther's Skin (published in the collection: Shota Rustaveli, Tbilisi, 1966), The Kashveti Church of St. George in Tiflis, The Ecclesiastical Rite of Iveria, and On the Georgian Antimension. Kalistrate's personal archive is preserved at the National Centre of Manuscripts. He is buried in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. On December 22, 2016, the Holy Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia canonized Kalistrate as a saint with the title Holy Patriarch. His feast day is commemorated on February 3.

Literature: ვარდოსანიძე ს., ქართველი მღვდელმთავრები (XX–XXI საუკუნეებში), თბ., 2010; ჟვანია ზ., საქართველოს კათალიკოს-პატრიარქნი და მღვდელმთავარნი 1917 წლიდან, ქუთ., 1994; საქართველოს კათოლიკოს-პატრიარქები, რედ. რ. მეტრეველი, თბ., 2000.

T. Margvelashvili