At an expanded council held at the Sameba Cathedral, the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Shio Mujiri, was elected the new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the 142nd in the country’s history. From this day forward, he will bear the title Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Shio III.
Shio Mujiri received 22 votes, Metropolitan Iob received 9, and Metropolitan Grigol received 7 votes.
The 57-year-old Metropolitan Shio Mujiri had been regarded as the official successor to Ilia II.
He was born in Tbilisi, received a conservatory education, took monastic vows at the Shiomgvime Monastery, and later spent many years in Moscow. There he served as rector of the Georgian community church and studied within the structures of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Metropolitan Shio was considered the most acceptable figure for the Georgian authorities and for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has sought to influence the Georgian Orthodox Church. Following the death of Patriarch Ilia II, some pro government commentators even called on bishops to withdraw their candidacies in favor of the locum tenens.
As previously reported, on March 17 Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, born Irakli Georgiyevich Gudushauri-Shiolashvili, died in hospital at the age of 93. Ilia II was one of the most influential religious figures in Georgia and had held the office of Catholicos-Patriarch since 1977. His patriarchate was the longest in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
As LF wrote, the Georgian Orthodox Church took an important step toward electing a new patriarch by concluding a meeting of the Holy Synod to nominate three candidates for the vacant Patriarchal Throne. The candidates nominated for the patriarchal throne were Metropolitan of Senaki and Chkhorotsku Shio, Mujiri, Metropolitan of Ruisi and Urbnisi Iob, Akiashvili, and Metropolitan of Poti and Khobi Grigol, Berbichashvili.
Earlier we reported that, according to the 1995 Church charter, the election was to take place no earlier than 40 days and no later than two months after the Patriarch’s death, with May 17 being the latest possible date.
As LF reported, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, SVR, issued a sharp statement against Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, accusing him of attempting 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 Russian influence on the Georgian clergy and whether the Church of Georgia is capable of overcoming it or willing to do so.
Read more about what the Orthodox Church of Georgia will look like without Ilia II in the article on LF.
