Day: April 12, 2026

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Patriarchal Locum Tenens Shio (Mujiri) of the Georgian Orthodox Church spoke about the late Patriarch Ilia II and addressed unity in the first Easter epistle after Ilia II’s death, delivered late on April 11, on the eve of Orthodox Easter, at Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi.

“Christ has risen! Today, the world rejoices and celebrates! The Savior of the world, the beginning and source of life, our Redeemer, has risen from the dead and shattered the gates of hell!” the epistle, read out by Archdeacon Demetre (Davitashvili), began. Senior Georgian Dream officials attended the liturgy.

According to the epistle, “our hearts were filled with sorrow” during the preparation for Easter, when Patriarch Ilia II passed away. The epistle said that Ilia II’s 49-year path of service was “a source of joy and hope for each of us” and “his fatherly love, prayers, and care spread over all Georgia, over every individual.”

“The many years of labor and cross of the Catholicos-Patriarchate were not easy. A path of martyrdom and self-sacrifice was his daily life, every deed, every thought,” the epistle said, adding, “He inherited a legacy persecuted, diminished, and oppressed by an atheist regime, and left us a restored Church that today plays the most important role in the life of the country and society.”

The locum tenens’ epistle went on to say that the late patriarch “seems to continue, even after his passing, to guide the nation toward faith, unity, and preaching.” He added that Ilia II “breathed a new life into the Georgian Orthodox Church” following his predecessors.

According to the epistle, “much has been said, written, and much more will be written about his labors, but perhaps the most precious thing that His Holiness cultivated is the foremost virtue of the Christian faith – love.”

“It is precisely the fruit of this boundless love and faith that is the miracle we witnessed in the days following the passing of His Holiness and Beatitude. All of Georgia, a sea of people in a non-stop stream, moved with reverence to pay their respects to the departed Patriarch.”

“The nation, gathered as one, accompanied its weary spiritual father to the very end – silently, with tears, with love and gratitude,” the epistle said.

Thanking God and the people for that unity, the locum tenens said in his epistle, “It is precisely standing by one another, prayer, unity, and love that are the guarantee that we will continue our ecclesiastical and national life with dignity.”

“May the risen Savior grant us firm faith, love, peace, unity, and wisdom! So let us rejoice and, in unity, glorify the Lord.”

Ilia II, who led the Georgian Orthodox Church for nearly five decades, died at age 93 on March 17 after being hospitalized with severe internal bleeding following years of declining health. He was buried in Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral on March 22, following an enormous funeral that drew tens of thousands of people.

Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotskhu Diocese, whom Ilia II designated as Locum Tenens as early as 2017, temporarily assumes patriarchal duties until the election of a new leader. Georgia must have a new patriarch within 40 to 60 days of the death of the previous leader. Three candidates are expected to be shortlisted during the Holy Synod’s next meeting on April 24.

Also Read:

• 01/04/2026 – Who May Succeed Patriarch Ilia II, And How Could It (Re-)Define Georgian Orthodox Church
• 22/03/2026 – Obituary | Ilia II – The Man Who Reinvented the Church
• 07/01/2026 – Patriarch Talks on Love, Freedom of Speech, and Their Limits in Christmas Epistle
• 20/04/2025 – Patriarch Ilia II’s Easter Epistle Talks of Peace and Urges Return to Eternal Values
  

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