Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku has been elected the 142nd head of the Georgian Orthodox Church at a meeting of clergy in Tbilisi following the death of longtime Patriarch Ilia II.
Shio, who will be known as Shio III, was selected as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia by members of the Church’s Council following a vote by bishops at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
His election marks a new chapter for the Georgian Orthodox Church after the death of longtime Patriarch Ilia II, who led the institution for 49 years before his death in March.
"I accept my distinction as Catholicos-Patriarch with obedience, God's grace, and hope," Shio III said after the result was announced.
He secured the most votes from bishops ahead of his rivals for the role, Metropolitan Iobi, 65, and Metropolitan Grigol, 69. Shio received 22 votes, while Metropolitan Iobi and Metropolitan Grigol took nine each. One vote was spoiled.
He will be ceremonially enthroned on 12 May at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, Georgia, northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
The day's events
Clergy, delegates and representatives from dioceses across the country were among the nearly 1,200 people in attendance at the event. Proceedings opened with a memorial service for the late Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.
Shio, who had also been serving as acting head of the Church, opened the expanded council convened to elect a new Patriarch with a welcoming address in which he emphasised the significance of the vote.
“Against the backdrop of the storms of modern life, great historical experience, and the contributions of divinely distinguished individuals, our choice is especially responsible before God and the nation,” he said.
“This duty gives us strength and hope that, with the Lord’s help, the Georgian Orthodox Church, which has always been a unifier of the nation, a defender of the true faith, the Georgian language, traditions and historical memory, will continue to walk this path,” Metropolitan Shio added.
Following his remarks, the session was closed to the public and clergy heard from the three Patriarchal candidates: Metropolitan Shio, Metropolitan Iobi and Metropolitan Grigol.
The opening of the Church Council meeting, the voting process and the official announcement of the results were held in public. During the counting of votes, the session was closed to the public.
Members of the public gathered in the courtyard outside the church during the proceedings. Georgia’s Internal Affairs Ministry announced temporary traffic restrictions around the cathedral area in Tbilisi from 09:00 to 18:00 local time (06:00 to 15:00 GMT).
The death of 93-year-old Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II in March triggered the search for a new head of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Ilia II became head of the Georgian Church in 1977 during the Soviet era, when the institution still faced repression.
He was the longest-serving Patriarch in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church and increased the Church’s influence over public life in the country during his 49-year tenure.
Around 89% of Georgia’s 3.8 million inhabitants identify as Orthodox Christians. Ilia II was staunchly conservative, opposed abortion and compared LGBT people to drug addicts. In 2008, he was named Georgia’s most trusted man in a poll.
The youngest of the three candidates, 57-year-old Metropolitan Shio has served as acting head of the Church since the death of Ilia II.
He studied theology in Moscow before becoming a monk in 1993 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1996.
Metropolitan Shio was made a bishop in 2003 and spent time in Australia and New Zealand overseeing Georgian Orthodox parishes in the two countries.
Considered a favourite of Georgia’s ruling Georgian Dream party, he is seen as a radical conservative, a supporter of closer ties with the Russian Orthodox Church and more vocally anti-Western than his predecessor.
Ilia II named Shio as his designated incumbent back in 2017, effectively his chosen successor. For nine years, Shio served as Ilia's right hand, running the Church as the Patriarch's health declined.
It was Shio who announced Ilia's death outside the Caucasus Medical Centre in Tbilisi on 17 March.
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