Benedict XV and the Caucasus

The Caucasus was the object of diplomatic engagement and pastoral care on the part of Benedict XV. Benedict’s Holy See demonstrated a growing interest in the events of the Caucasus, despite the fact that it was a peripheral territory compared to the ‘great game’ of the Empires, a marginal area in relation to European geopolitics, a region where Catholic influence was scarce. Contacts with the Georgian orthodox patriarchate, diplomatic relations and attention to the small Catholic minority were the fields of action in which the Catholic Church of Pope Della Chiesa moved. The essay analyses the relationships between the Holy See and Georgia, starting with the documentation of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. In this context, the documents relating to the mission of the White Father, Antoine Delpuch, in the Southern Caucasus are particularly important not only on the ecclesiastic plane but also as testimony to the events that occurred in the region during the brief existence of the first independent Georgian State, the Democratic Republic of Georgia.