Tbilisi, May 7, 2026
Photo: caucasuswatch.de
The Georgian Orthodox Church will hold an expanded Church Council next week to elect a new Catholicos-Patriarch, His Eminence Metropolitan Shio, Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, announced in his homily for the feast of St. George yesterday.
“You know that next week we will have to hold a large, expanded Church Council, where the election of the new Catholicos-Patriarch must take place,” Metropolitan Shio told the congregation. “I want to ask our clergy, our monastic community, each of you, our dear flock, to intensify our prayers so that we may conduct this great event with dignity, peacefully, with love, so that God’s will may be revealed and there may be a beneficial choice, a decision for our Church and our people. Of course, first of all, let us appeal to St. George and may his grace help us.”
The election follows the repose of His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II on March 17. Last month, the Georgian Synod selected three candidates to replace him:
● Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku
● Metropolitan Iob of Mroveli-Urbnisi
● Metropolitan Grigol of Poti and Khobi
The Church Council will convene to choose among the three metropolitans to lead the Georgian Orthodox Church.
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