Georgian Orthodox Church chooses new Catholicos-Patriarch at Holy Synod session

Source: Meduza

Metropolitan Shio (Mujirishvili), 57, will become the next Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. An expanded session of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church on May 11 chose him by a majority of votes.

Irakli Gedenidze / Reuters / Scanpix / LETA

Metropolitan Shio was appointed locum tenens of the patriarchal throne in 2017, making him the designated successor to Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. After Ilia II’s death, he served as acting head of the Church.

He is expected to take the name Shio III when he is formally installed as head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, scheduled for May 12.

The new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia was born on February 1, 1969, in Tbilisi. He studied cello at the Tbilisi State Conservatory before leaving after his third year to become a novice at the Shio-Mgvime Monastery, where he took monastic vows in January 1993.

In the early 2000s, he served as rector of a parish at the Church of the Great Martyr George in Gruziny, Moscow, while pursuing theological studies in Russia. He was consecrated bishop in 2003 and returned to Georgia, then elevated to the rank of metropolitan in 2010.

Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II died on March 17, 2026, at the age of 93. He had held the position of patriarch since 1977 — more than 48 years — longer than anyone else in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

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Georgian Orthodox Church chooses new Catholicos-Patriarch at Holy Synod session

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Georgian Orthodox Church chooses new Catholicos-Patriarch at Holy Synod session

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