TBILISI, October 11 – Georgia’s political and religious leaders gathered in Tbilisi on Sunday for an international symposium marking 1,700 years since Christianity was declared the country’s state religion. The symposium, titled “God, Homeland, Human,” opened at the Radisson hotel and was attended by Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili … Read more
TBILISI, September 30 – A delegation from the Moscow Patriarchate met Georgian Orthodox Church leader Shio III in Tbilisi on Wednesday. The main topic was the status of church life in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian delegation was led by Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, who heads the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. … Read more
TBILISI, May 26 – Georgia’s leaders used Independence Day to highlight the importance of sovereignty. The main ceremony was held on Freedom Square in central Tbilisi, where President Mikheil Kavelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, cabinet members and MPs attended. Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III and other clergy were also present, along with diplomats, … Read more
TBILISI, May 12 – Georgia’s new Orthodox patriarch, Shio III, was enthroned Tuesday at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, opening a new chapter for one of the country’s most powerful institutions. The festive service began at 10:00. During the liturgy, the new patriarch received the symbols of church authority: the patriarchal mitre, head covering, cross-panagia and … Read more
TBILISI, May 11 – Georgia’s Orthodox Church has elected Metropolitan Shio Mujiri as its new leader, making him the country’s 142nd Catholicos-Patriarch after the death of longtime church head Ilia II. The vote was held Monday at an expanded church council at Sameba Cathedral in Tbilisi. Shio, who had served as locum tenens of the … Read more
TBILISI, April 29 – Georgia’s Orthodox Church has narrowed the race for its next patriarch to three candidates, opening the final stage in the selection of a successor to Ilia II. The Holy Synod met on Tuesday, April 28, at the Patriarchate residence in Tbilisi and selected three candidates for the expanded church meeting that … Read more