An official enthronement ceremony for Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Shio III took place in Georgia at the historic Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

This was reported by Orthodox Times.

Among those attending the enthronement ceremony were Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, and representatives of the executive and legislative branches.

Shio III delivered a sermon calling on the Church to share both the joys and the suffering of the people and to remain spiritually close to society.

The Patriarch stressed that the doors of the Church must remain open to everyone and that the clergy should actively help those who may feel alienated from church life.

He warned that modern life is confronting us with ever more serious spiritual challenges, saying that “human hearts have grown distant and cold,” while temptations often displace “faith, moral values, family, and loved ones.”

“Therefore, the burden of pastoral care for the Church is doubly heavy,” he noted, adding that great effort and sacrifice are required to preach the faith of Christ and bring His living word to human hearts.

The head of the Georgian Church also emphasized the importance of youth and education, stating that the future of the nation depends on strengthening the Christian faith, national values, respect for traditions, and responsibility toward both the Church and society.

He also stressed that education and public life should be based not only on knowledge but also on “Christian love and spiritual values.”

Concluding his sermon, Patriarch Shio III paid tribute to his predecessors, kneeling “with filial love” before the legacy of the great Catholicos-Patriarchs of Georgia and asking for their prayers and support at the beginning of his ministry.

“I pray that, like the Good Shepherd, I may give my life for my flock and humbly bear the heavy cross of the patriarch,” he said.

For his part, Georgian theologian and religious scholar Gocha Barnovi told LF that “the enthronement took place very quickly, without inviting foreign guests, because foreigners would have had to be invited at least ten days in advance.”

“The church leadership probably wanted to present the election as a fait accompli, which is why everything was prepared and carried out the day after the election,” the expert said.

The full text of the interview will soon be published by LF.

As LF previously reported, the new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the 142nd in the country’s history, was elected at an expanded council held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, commonly known as Sameba. Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne Shio Mujiri became, from that day forward, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Shio III.

Shio Mujiri received 22 votes, Metropolitan Iov received 9, and Metropolitan Grigol received 7 votes.

Fifty-seven-year-old Metropolitan Shio Mujiri was considered 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 a long period 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 regarded as the most acceptable figure for the Georgian authorities and for the Russian Orthodox Church, which has sought to influence the Georgian Orthodox Church. After the death of Patriarch Ilia II, some pro-government commentators even urged bishops to withdraw their candidacies in favor of the locum tenens.

As previously reported, Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II, born Irakli Giorgiyevich Gudushauri-Shiolashvili, died in hospital on March 17 at the age of 93. Ilia II was one of the most influential religious figures in Georgia and had served as 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 session of the Holy Synod that nominated 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 Iov (Akiashvili), and Metropolitan of Poti and Khobi Grigol (Berbichashvili).

Earlier, we reported that under the Church charter adopted in 1995, the election was to take place no earlier than 40 days and no later than two months after the Patriarch’s death, making May 17 the latest possible date.

As LF also reported, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service accused Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I 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, Georgian independent investigative journalist Nugzar Suaridze 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 on what the Orthodox Church of Georgia will look like without Ilia II in LF’s article.