George the Hagiorite into a vibrant center of Georgian Orthodox culture. At some point between 1052 and 1057, George left his fellow monk George of Oltisi in charge of the Iviron monastery, and set off to Antioch to appear before the Patriarch to defend his brethren, accused by a group of the Greek clerics of heresy. The dispute quickly evolved around the canonical legality of the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox church, which had originally operated within the framework of the see of Antioch, but had been becoming increasingly independent since the 6th century. In defense of the Georgian autocephaly, George was referring
Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XII within the country. Because of rival interpretations the concordat was enacted ten years later in 1940. In 1948, the Communist government withdrew from the concordat and closed most Catholic institutes. Only two small dioceses were permitted to continue, the others were considered non-existent. The six united bishops and several Latin rite bishops were jailed to long sentences. All schools were closed, Catholic activities were outlawed. Bulgaria became a People's Republic on 15 October 1946. The new constitution of 1947 limited religious activities. Massive Church persecution followed. The Church lost all its bishops, organizations, religious institutes. Most of the priests and