Russian Orthodox Church calls on pilgrims to 'boycott' New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia
The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) has called on pilgrims not to visit the New Athos Monastery in Abkhazia.
The ROC considers the monastery’s abbot, Father Dorotheus, a schismatic.
However, this did not stop Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration and the Kremlin’s point man for Abkhazia, from visiting the monastery.
The Moscow Patriarchate’s chancellor, Metropolitan Grigory, has sent a circular letter to all bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church warning that Russian pilgrims must not attend services at the New Athos Monastery. The services there are led by defrocked hieromonk Dorotheus (Dbar).
“We are concerned about cases in which Orthodox pilgrims from dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church visit the New Athos Monastery and take part in services held there. Pilgrims often go to confession and receive communion there without knowing that they should not.
I ask you to take measures to ensure that pilgrims travelling to holy sites in Abkhazia with your blessing are always informed that they must not engage in prayer or Eucharistic communion with the monk Dorotheus. They should also be informed that the sacraments performed in schism have no spiritual grace,” Metropolitan Grigory wrote.
Archimandrite Dorotheus heads the Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia, one of two unrecognised Orthodox churches operating in the republic. A graduate of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and a doctor of theology, he is highly popular in Abkhaz society and well known in church circles.
His “rival” is Father Vissarion, who heads the Abkhazian Orthodox Church (AOC). He is the only serving Abkhaz cleric ordained by the Georgian Orthodox Church during the Soviet era. Despite its unrecognised status, the AOC enjoys the active support of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The ROC, by contrast, has opposed Archimandrite Dorotheus and officially defrocked him in 2023 for refusing to submit to its authority.
The Holy Metropolis of Abkhazia and the AOC have been engaged in a long-running and bitter conflict.
Father Vissarion has also addressed not Russian but Abkhaz believers, saying they should not take part in services at New Athos.
Father Dorotheus himself believes that the Moscow Patriarchate’s letter was prompted by Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, an adviser to Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. According to Dorotheus, Balashov has consistently worked in the interests of the Georgian Orthodox Church for decades.
“Similar circulars have appeared repeatedly. Yet their authors stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the main point: pilgrims who visit the New Athos Monastery are not there ‘out of ignorance’. The overwhelming majority of them knowingly take part in the services I conduct.
These people know the church bureaucracy well and can see that it contains no spiritual truth — only political and administrative manipulation,” Father Dorotheus wrote on his social media page.
Dorotheus believes another factor also prompted the AOC leadership to step up its activity. On 28 August 2026, Abkhaz President Badra Gunba and Sergei Kiriyenko, first deputy chief of staff of the Russian presidential administration, made an unofficial visit to the New Athos Monastery.
According to Dorotheus, this was the first time since 2011 that such high-ranking officials had visited their monastery.
The terminology, place names and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of this website.
Boycott of the New Athos Monastery
