The Georgian Orthodox Church has taken an important step toward electing a new patriarch, concluding a session of the Holy Synod to nominate three candidates for the vacant Patriarchal Throne.
As reported by Orthodoxtimes, the candidates for the patriarchal throne are Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, Metropolitan Iob of Ruisi and Urbnisi, and Metropolitan Grigol of Poti and Khobi.
In the first round of voting, Metropolitan Shio received 20 votes, while the other two candidates, Iob and Grigol, received seven votes each.
These three candidates, the triprosopon, will be presented to an expanded session, the Local Council, during which the election of the new Patriarch of Georgia will take place in accordance with established church procedures.
The inclusion among the candidates of Metropolitan Shio, who has served as locum tenens since 2017 and is considered one of the main contenders for the throne, was widely anticipated.
According to Orthodoxtimes, Metropolitan Iob of Ruisi and Urbnisi, who entered the triprosopon with seven votes, is a conservative hierarch who does not sympathize with Russia. He supported the idea of breaking ties with Moscow.
As for Metropolitan Grigol, he is described as a hierarch of moderate views who usually does not take radical positions and rarely expresses his opinion publicly. “He is favorably disposed toward the Phanar, but will never state this openly,” a source in Georgia noted. Nevertheless, he is considered an authoritative hierarch with a solid academic background.
Earlier it was reported that on April 28 a session of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church would take place in Tbilisi, at which three candidates for the throne of the Catholicos-Patriarch would be presented. The Holy Synod at its meeting determines the three candidates. These candidates are then presented to the expanded Council, which will elect the new patriarch.
According to the Church charter of 1995, the election must take place no earlier than 40 days and no later than two months after the death of the Patriarch, with May 17 as the latest possible date.
The expanded Council will include both clergy and laity, although only members of the Holy Synod have the right to stand as candidates and to vote. To be elected, a candidate must receive more than half of the votes, at least 20 out of 39. If no candidate reaches this threshold, a second round of voting is held.
As is known, on March 17, at the age of 93, Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, Irakli Georgievich Gudushauri-Shiolashvili, died in a hospital. Ilia II was one of the most influential religious figures in Georgia and had held the post of Catholicos-Patriarch since 1977. His patriarchate was the longest in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
As reported by LF, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service issued a sharp statement addressed to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, accusing him of attempts to destabilize the situation within the Georgian Orthodox Church following the death of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.
Earlier, in an exclusive interview with LF, Nugzar Suaridze, a Georgian independent investigative journalist, spoke about the influence of Russians on the Georgian clergy and whether the Church of Georgia is capable of overcoming it or willing to do so.
For more on what the Georgian Orthodox Church will be like without Ilia II, read the article on LF.