Tbilisi, June 17, 2026
Photo: Public Relations Department of the Patriarchate of Georgia
His Holiness Shio, the new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, is continuing the tradition of mass Baptisms that his predecessor His Holiness Catholicos Patriarch Ilia began in 2008.
Patriarch Ilia II launched the tradition in 2008 as a response to Georgia’s post-Soviet demographic crisis. Under the practice, families who were married in the Church could have their third and subsequent children baptized at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Tbilisi, with the Patriarch himself serving as Godfather. Over the decades that followed, Patriarch Ilia amassed more than 50,000 Godchildren.
Pat. Shio, who was elected to the primatial throne on May 11, presided over his first mass Baptism on June 7—the 73rd such event in the tradition’s history. Priests celebrated the Sacrament of Baptism over the course of several hours, after which Pat. Shio arrived to bless his new Godchildren, reports the Union of Orthodox Journalists.
More than 600 children received the Sacrament on the occasion.
Photo: Public Relations Department of the Patriarchate of Georgia
Addressing the faithful gathered at the cathedral, Pat. Shio spoke about the significance of the Sacrament. He recalled Christ’s words to Nicodemus—that unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of God—and described what takes place in Baptism: the sinful, old man dies as the person enters the baptismal font, and a new person emerges, cleansed and spiritually reborn in Christ.
“Just as we’re all born of Adam in the flesh,” he said, “so in Baptism a man is born spiritually and mysteriously from Jesus Christ; every sin is forgiven—both original sin and personal sins—and the Lord Himself enters the soul.”
The Patriarch also cautioned that Baptism alone isn’t sufficient if a Christian life doesn’t follow. “If after Baptism a man doesn’t live as a Christian, if he dishonors the Lord with every kind of sin and doesn’t cleanse his soul through repentance,” he said, “then he could become worse than someone who was never baptized.”
He urged the newly baptized and their families to live according to God’s commandments—studying and fulfilling them, practicing repentance, and calling upon the Lord—so that the grace of Baptism might be preserved.
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