“Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II has fallen asleep in the Lord. He was a man of an epoch, and his passing is an immeasurable loss for the entire world Orthodox Church,” said Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku (Mujiri), Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne.
He created a whole epoch
According to the website of the Georgian Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service, Metropolitan Shio extended his condolences to all of Georgia on the Patriarch’s death and remarked that His Beatitude Ilia II had created an entire era.
He created a whole epoch. It is very difficult to speak of him in just a few words — such is the greatness of the person of whom we speak. Through him, through his labours, God brought Georgia back to the true faith. He was a great builder of our Church, both in the literal sense of that word and in the spiritual, and our grief is profound.
Heavenly intercessor for Georgia
Metropolitan Shio said that when such “great souls” depart from us, there is still a consolation: “that we have gained a heavenly intercessor, all of Georgia, and each one of us, for he was our father, he is our father, and he shall remain so.”
“May God grant rest to his soul, and may his holy prayers be our help and intercession,” said Metropolitan Shio.
Venerable personality of contemporary Orthodoxy
Patriarch Ilia II—Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia—reposed in the Lord on Tuesday evening, 17 March 2026, at the age of 93.
In a message to the Holy Synod of the Georgian Church, His Beatitude Patriarch Daniel expressed his “deep sorrow” over the repose of Patriarch Ilia, whom he called ” a venerable personality of contemporary Orthodoxy and a steadfast confessor of the faith, who shepherded with wisdom the Orthodox Church of Georgia during periods of both trial and renewal.”
Photo: Facebook / sazupatriarchate
