Georgia will lay Patriarch Ilia II to rest on Sunday, March 22, with an all-day event in Tbilisi expected to draw a large crowd and feature major officials and religious leaders, including Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople.
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, who led the Georgian Orthodox Church for nearly five decades, died on March 17 at age 93, less than a day after being hospitalized at Caucasus Medical Center with severe stomach bleeding and following years of declining health. His death resonated across the nation where over 80 percent identify with Orthodox Christianity, while commentators and officials described him as an “epochal” figure.
Since the evening of March 18, his body has lain in repose at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, where tens of thousands, including politicians from across the spectrum, have paid their respects, with a steady flow of people waiting in lines for hours nonstop for almost three days and nights. A six-day period of mourning was declared, with flags at the government building lowered to half-staff. International condolences poured in from political and religious leaders worldwide, as well as from local diplomatic missions.
Ilia II will be buried inside Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral, where all eight Georgian Catholicos-Patriarchs since the Church regained its autocephaly in 1917 are also laid to rest.
The Holy Trinity Cathedral will be closed from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m. on March 22, the Patriarchate’s public relations office announced, “to organize and prepare for the service and the funeral ceremony,” as well as “to maintain security standards due to the attendance of delegations.” Starting at 8 a.m., only those with special passes will be allowed inside. The liturgy is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., led by Shio Mujiri, Patriarchal Locum Tenens, along with other members of the Holy Synod.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople is expected to arrive at the Holy Trinity Cathedral at 12:15. Together with Patriarchal Locum Tenens Shio Mujiri and other members of the Holy Synod, Bartholomew will participate in performing the funeral service.
At 3 p.m., the body of Ilia II will be taken from the Holy Trinity Cathedral to Sioni Cathedral in a funeral procession expected to draw a massive crowd. People will be allowed to follow the procession and watch the full service on “multiple screens” set up along the streets, the Patriarchate said.
A number of religious delegations are expected to attend the funeral service of the late patriarch.
Representatives of the Catholic Church are arriving from the Vatican, including Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, who will attend the funeral along with several senior clergy, among them Archbishop Ante Jozic, the apostolic nuncio to Georgia, and Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, the apostolic administrator of Latin Catholics in the Caucasus.
An 80-member delegation is expected to arrive from the Russian Orthodox Church, led by Metropolitan Benjamin (Tupieka), Patriarchal Exarch of Belarus.
