Shio III Enthroned as Patriarch of Georgian Orthodox Church
Shio III was enthroned as Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church on May 12, a day after his election, during a special church ceremony at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, the ancient capital of Georgia, attended by senior clergy, ruling party officials, including Bidzina Ivanishvili, and the faithful.
Succeeding the late Ilia II, who died aged 93 in March, Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), as locum tenens, had temporarily led the church during the transition and was elected patriarch, taking the name Shio III, by 22 of the 39 members of the Holy Synod at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi on May 11.
The enthronement date, May 12, coincided with St. Andrew the First-Called Day, a public holiday that, under Christian tradition, marks the arrival in Georgia of St. Andrew, who is regarded as the first to preach Christianity in the country in the first century A.D.
The ceremony began at 10 a.m. at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, a traditional site for the enthronement of Georgian patriarchs and where the late Ilia II had also been enthroned in 1977. The May 12 patriarchal enthronement ceremony, the first in nearly half a century, was performed in line with a special rite in which Shio III was presented with the patriarchal symbols, including the mitre, head covering, cross-panagia, and crozier. The members of the Holy Synod were among those performing the ceremony.
Senior Georgian Dream officials, including Georgian Dream-elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Speaker of the disputed Parliament Shalva Papuashvili, as well as Georgian Dream founder and Honorary Chairman Bidzina Ivanishvili, who holds no official government position, attended the ceremony inside the cathedral.
Also Read:
- 11/05/2026 – Congratulations Pour In as Shio III Becomes New Patriarch of Georgian Orthodox Church
- 22/03/2026 – Obituary | Ilia II – The Man Who Reinvented the Church
- 01/04/2026 – Who May Succeed Patriarch Ilia II, And How Could It (Re-)Define Georgian Orthodox Church