A new patriarch has been elected in Georgia

Metropolitan Shio (Mudjiri) has been elected as the new, 142nd Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia at an expanded assembly of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

As reported by Sputnik Georgia, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church on April 28 selected three candidates for the patriarchal throne: the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, Metropolitan Iov of Ruisi-Urbnisi, and Metropolitan Grigol of Poti and Khobi.

Metropolitan Shio received 22 votes from the hierarchs, Metropolitan Iov of Ruisi-Urbnisi received 9 votes, and Metropolitan Grigol of Poti and Khobi received 7 votes.

All members of the Holy Synod — 39 hierarchs — participated in the expanded assembly. Each of the 47 dioceses was represented by three delegates — two clergy members and one layperson, with only the Mtskheta-Tbilisi diocese having as many representatives in the assembly as all the other dioceses combined.

About 1,200 delegates from across the country gathered in the Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral on Monday morning. Entry to Sameba was by special passes, while anyone who wished could be present in the courtyard.

The opening and the announcement of results were shown on live broadcast, while the vote counting itself was closed to the press.

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II passed away on March 17 at the age of 93. The cause of death was the development of renal, pulmonary, and cardiac failure. His patriarchate was the longest in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, born Elizbar Mudjiri, became Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne in 2017 during the lifetime of the late Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II.

Shio is 57 years old. In secular life, he graduated from the Tbilisi Conservatory in 1991, and in 1993 he took monastic vows as a novice. In 1996, Shio received the blessing of priesthood, and in 1997 he became a priest at the Church of Saint George in Tbilisi.

Shio received his theological education first at the Batumi Theological Seminary, and later at the Moscow Theological Academy and the Moscow St. Tikhon's Institute of Theology.

Shio served at the Anchiskhati Church and the Church of Saint Nicholas in Tbilisi, and from 2001 to 2003 he was the rector of the Church of the Great Martyr George the Victorious in Gruziny — the spiritual center of the Georgian diaspora in Moscow. Shio has headed the Senaki and Chkhorotsku diocese since August 18, 2003.