conflict transformation, church organizations, peacebuilding, de facto states

Although conflicts in post-Soviet regions have been the subject of much attention from researchers, some aspects of these conflicts still remain somewhat neglected by academics. One such aspect is the role played by Church organizations in conflict transformation. The concept of conflict transformation places considerable emphasis on civil society, which – in its broader sense – includes Church organizations. According to conflict transformation concept, representatives of Churches have direct access to persons who are involved in conflicts, and thus they have the potential to influence public opinion and the ability to bring hostile parties together to engage in dialogue. The founding document of the World Council of Churches (WCC) likewise rejects in principle war as contrary to the will of God, and it is the WCC’s declared aim to prevent the escalation of conflicts, or at least to refrain from promoting and supporting conflicts. But are the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) and the so-called Abkhazian Orthodox Church (AOC) really able and willing to behave according to these principles? The aim of this study is to identify the factors underlying the low level of engagement in the peacebuilding process by Orthodox religious institutions in Georgia and Abkhazia and which prevent these organizations from exercising a positive influence over conflict transformation. Field research was conducted via interviews with representatives of Abkhazian and Georgian civil society (including Church representatives), and this data is supplemented by the public declarations of GOC and AOC representatives with relevance to conflict transformation.