The extended church assembly has elected Bishop Shio, who served as locum tenens of the deceased head of the church, Ilia II, as the 142nd Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, according to the voting results announced by Bishop Anania.
"The Catholicos-Patriarch of the autocephalous Apostolic Orthodox Church of All Georgia has been elected Metropolitan Shio," Bishop Anania said, adding that Shio received 22 votes out of 39.
The newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, Bishop Shio, who will reportedly bear the name Shio III, is to be enthroned on May 12 in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in the city of Mtskheta, near Tbilisi.
In 2003, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church selected Hegumen Shio as the head of the newly established Diocese of Senaki and Chkhorotsku. In 2017, Metropolitan Shio was appointed locum tenens of the Patriarchal throne of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
