The church was granted autocephaly by the
Patriarch of Antioch in
466.
While seriously disrupted by the invasions of the various tartar tribes in the
13th and
15th centuries the autocephalous church survived until it was placed under the administration of the synodal
Church of Russia in
1811.
After the abdication of Czar Nicholas II following the
1917 February Revolution, the Georgian hierarchs restored autocephaly that was eventually recognized by the
Church of Constantinople and the
Church of Russia.
With recognition of the Orthodox Church by Stalin after the
1941 Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, to gain support of the Church for repulsing the invasion, the autocephaly of the Church of Georgia was recognized in
1943 by the
Church of Russia.
Then, in
1989, autocephaly was recognized by the
Patriarch of Constantinople, thus approving the de facto autocephaly exercised since the fifth century.
With the downfall of the Soviet Union and the resulting independence of the country of Georgia, a great revival has taken place for the Church of Georgia. As of
2002, more than eighty percent of the population of Georgia has identified themselves as Orthodox Christians.
The church itself was organized into
33 dioceses, with
512 churches. The church in Georgia of some
3.5 million people was served by
730 priests.
In Abkhazia, a region within Georgia which has declared itself an independent state (recognized only by Russia), Georgian church authorities have largely been prevented from exercising any authority, and the Abkhazian leadership has exiled the diocesan bishop appointed by the Catholicosate.
Functioning within the area is the so-called
Abkhazian Orthodox Church, which is as yet unrecognized by any other Orthodox church, although it has been given some practical support by the
Church of Russia. The breakaway diocese is now seeking to become a self-governed church under the
Moscow Patriarchate.