Editing Chechnya (section)

====Christianity====
{{Main|Christianity in Russia}}
{{Further|History of Chechnya#Religion|Mongol invasions of Durdzuketia#Religious implications}}
[[File:Церковь Михаила Архангела, Грозный.jpg|thumb|[[Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Grozny]]]]

From the 11th to 13th centuries (i.e. before [[Mongol invasions of Durdzuketia]]), there was a mission of [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Orthodox]] missionaries to the Nakh peoples. Their success was limited, though a couple of highland [[teip]]s [[Conversion to Christianity|did convert to Christianity]] (conversion was largely by teips). However, during the [[Mongol invasions of Durdzuketia]], these Christianized teips gradually reverted to [[Paganism]], perhaps due to the loss of [[Transcaucasia]]n contacts, as the Georgians fought the [[Mongols]] and briefly fell under their dominion.

The once-strong Russian minority in Chechnya, mostly [[Terek Cossacks]] and estimated as numbering approximately 25,000 in 2012, are predominantly [[Russian Orthodox Church|Russian Orthodox]], although currently only one church exists in Grozny. In August 2011, Archbishop Zosima of [[Vladikavkaz]] and [[Makhachkala]] performed the first mass [[baptism]] ceremony in the history of the Chechen Republic in the [[Terek River]] of [[Naursky District]], in which 35 citizens of Naursky and Shelkovsky districts were converted to Russian Orthodoxy.<ref>Interfax Information Services Group. [http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8678 "Chechnya saw the first mass baptism in its today's history"]. Retrieved 9 July 2012.</ref> As of 2020, there are eight [[Eastern Orthodox Christianity|Eastern Orthodox churches]] in Chechnya, the largest is the temple of the [[Church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Grozny|Archangel Michael]] in Grozny.