Tbilisi, October 28, 2019
Photo: pravme.ru His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia was unable to attend the Divine Liturgy on Sunday at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi due to a viral infection.
According to the beloved Patriarch’s personal physician, Tsisana Shartava, His Holiness has a season viral infection and needs to spend several days at home to avoid complications, reports Interpress News.
“He is now in perfectly fine condition,” the doctor said. “He had a viral infection three days ago. He also sporadically had a fever for several hours. It’s the usual flu virus; he caught a cold.”
The Patriarch is expected to be fully rehabilitated within two or three days, Shartava explained. “He doesn’t need any medication or additional treatment right now.” Pat. Ilia needs to stay at home and rest, though there is no need to be confined to his bed or to a clinic, Shartava noted.
Shartava also told Interpress today that the Patriarch’s condition is good enough that he can hold meetings.
Pat. Ilia, 86, has had several serious and minor health struggles in recent years. He underwent a surgery on his cardiovascular system in 2015; he suffered from a gall bladder inflammation and subsequent complications in late 2016-early 2017; and in February 2017 he underwent gall bladder surgery. His Holiness was not able to attend the celebrations in Moscow in November-December 2017 for the 100th anniversary of the restoration of the Patriarchate in the Russian Church due to health concerns. He became ill while delivering a Sunday sermon in July 2018, and again during the Liturgy in February of this year.
He announced a Locum Tenens for the patriarchal throne on November 23, 2017, appointing His Eminence Metropolitan Shio (Mudzhiri) of Senaki and Chkhorotsqu to the position, presumably in view of the patriarch’s failing health.
Pat. Ilia has served as primate of the Georgian Church since 1977 and has earned the trust, love, and devotion of the entire nation and the global Orthodox Church, and the Church has grown immensely under his watch, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union. At the time of Pat. Ilia’s enthronement, there were 15 dioceses and only 30 active churches left thanks to communist persecutions. Today there are 47 dioceses and about 2,000 active parishes, as well as about 3,000 clergy.
May God grant His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II many years!
