TBILISI, March 18 – Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and one of the most influential figures in the country’s modern history, died Tuesday night at the age of 93, church and state officials said.
The official announcement was made at the Caucasus Medical Center by Metropolitan Shio, the patriarchal locum tenens. According to Interpressnews, Ilia II was taken to the clinic on March 17 with massive gastric bleeding and was placed in a critical intensive care unit. Health Minister Mikheil Sarjveladze later said the patriarch’s vital signs began sharply worsening at about 9 p.m. and that doctors had been dealing with hemorrhagic instability from the start. He said the medical crisis began with a stomach ulcer linked to bleeding and was followed by multi-organ failure affecting the lungs, heart and kidneys.
The Georgian Patriarchate said Ilia II will lie in state at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi on Wednesday, March 18. The government also declared mourning across Georgia, with state flags to be lowered on administrative buildings nationwide. Soon after the news broke, citizens began gathering outside the Caucasus Medical Center, while senior clergy and government officials, including Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, headed to the Patriarchate for organizational meetings.
Ilia II had led the Georgian Orthodox Church since December 23, 1977. During his long tenure, the church said, a modern Georgian-language Bible was published with his blessing, theological books and church publications were issued, and major religious education institutions were expanded. In 1988, the Mtskheta theological seminary was moved to Tbilisi and the Tbilisi Theological Academy-Seminary was founded. Seminaries were also opened in Batumi, Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi. The number of dioceses rose from 15 to 33 over two decades, monasteries grew to 53, and the number of clergy reached about 1,000. The Holy Trinity Cathedral, now the country’s main Orthodox cathedral, was also built during his leadership.
Church and political figures quickly described the death as a national loss. Metropolitan Shio called Ilia II an “epochal” figure and a major loss for the entire Orthodox world. Sarjveladze said Georgia would be “different from tomorrow” without the patriarch. Opposition leader Nika Gvaramia wrote that Ilia II was loved not only by his own flock, but also by Georgians of other faiths, agnostics and atheists.
