The Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church has not resolved key issues ahead of the patriarchal election. In particular, the bishops did not clarify the main criteria for selecting the next primate, leaving open questions about age limits and educational requirements.
This was reported by the outlet Georgia Today.
It had been expected that the April 3 meeting, which lasted nearly six hours, would provide final guidance on who could nominate a candidate for the post of successor to the late Patriarch Ilia II. Instead, according to church officials, discussions were focused mainly on “procedural issues,” and final decisions on contentious matters were postponed until the next Synod session scheduled for April 24.
Despite the absence of formal decisions, senior clergy suggested that candidates would likely be required to have at least a theological education. “As for education, there was no specific discussion, although at a minimum, having a theological education from a seminary remains a mandatory requirement,” Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, head of the Patriarchate’s public relations service, told journalists after the meeting.
Uncertainty also remains regarding how the Church will interpret the legally established age limit for candidates, which states that the patriarch must be “no younger than 40 and no older than 70.” Jagmaidze said the Synod had not determined how strictly the upper age limit would be applied, and further debate is expected later this month.
The ambiguity of these provisions could directly affect the eligibility of at least two widely discussed contenders.
Metropolitan Isaia of the Nikozi and Tskhinvali Diocese has drawn attention due to the lack of publicly documented formal theological education. However, church rules also require that hierarchs, including bishops and metropolitans, possess “appropriate theological education,” suggesting that his qualifications were deemed sufficient when he was appointed bishop in 1995 and later elevated to metropolitan in 2006.
Meanwhile, Metropolitan Daniel of Chiatura and Sachkhere is approaching the statutory age limit. He will turn 71 on May 29, shortly after the latest possible date for the election of a new patriarch, raising questions about whether the age limit will be interpreted strictly during the election or more flexibly.
Both figures are considered potential rivals to Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), who has served as locum tenens since 2017 and is regarded as one of the leading contenders for the throne.
The Holy Synod, which consists of 39 members, is expected at its next meeting on April 24 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi to compile a list of three candidates. These candidates will then be presented to the Expanded Council, which will elect the new patriarch.
Metropolitan Nikoloz (Pachuashvili) stated that the selection process within the Synod would include individual rounds of voting, and the three candidates receiving the highest number of votes would advance to the final stage.
According to the Church’s 1995 statute, 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 are eligible to run and 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 reported, on March 17, the Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II, died in hospital at the age of 93, Ilia II, Irakli Georgievich Gudushauri-Shiolashvili, 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 previously reported by LF, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service issued a sharp statement addressed to 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 the influence of Russians on the Georgian clergy and whether the Church of Georgia is capable of, or willing to, overcome it.
