Georgia elects new Patriarch

The Georgian Orthodox Church has elected a new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, choosing Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, who had been serving as locum tenens of the patriarchal throne.

Metropolitan Shio secured 22 votes from bishops, surpassing the required threshold of more than half of the electoral body, which stood at a minimum of 20 votes, Caliber.Az reports per Georgian media.

The new Patriarch, Shio (Elizbar Mujiri), is 57 years old. He received his theological education first at the Batumi Theological Seminary, before continuing his studies at the Moscow Theological Academy and the St Tikhon's Orthodox University.

Since 2003, he has led the Senaki and Chkhorotsku diocese. In late 2017, he was appointed locum tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of the Georgian Orthodox Church by Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II.

By Aghakazim Guliyev