Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II buried at Sioni Cathedral

Late Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II has been buried at Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral on March 22.

Tocum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne Metropolitan Shio led a funeral service at Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral. The burial ceremony at the Sioni Cathedral was attended hierarchs of the Georgian Orthodox Church and representatives of foreign church delegations, as well as Georgian President Mikhail Kavelashvili, Prime Minister Irakly Kobakhidze and other members of the republic’s government and parliament.

The Russian President's Special Envoy Mikhail Shvydkoi, Speaker of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova and Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturyan also attended the funeral in Tbilisi.

Ilia II died on the evening of March 17 at a Tbilisi hospital at the age of 93. Georgia announced mourning for the late Georgian patriarch before the day of his funeral.

Ilia II was elected Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia in 1977. He was a graduate of the Moscow Theological Seminary. During the years of his spiritual leadership, the number of eparchies of the Georgian Orthodox Church increased to 47 from 15.