On Monday (11 May), the Georgian Church has elected a new Catholicos-Patriarch. Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri) of Senaki and Chkhorotsku has become the country's 142nd Catholicos-Patriarch. His Holiness Shio received 22 votes. All 39 members of the Holy Synod took part in the ballot. The chairman of the vote-counting commission, Metropolitan Anania (Japaridze) declared the result.
He thanked the priests and the Georgian people.
His Holiness Shio thanked the Holy Synod, the clergy and the Georgian people for their trust, prayers and support. He described his election as both “a great honour and a heavy cross”, saying he was deeply aware of the responsibility now placed upon him.
He expressed gratitude to God, the Theotokos, the saints of the Orthodox Church, and the late Patriarch Ilia II, whose prayers and legacy he said would guide him. He also thanked the clergy and parishioners of the Senaki and Chkhorotsku Diocese, where he had served for many years.
“I ask you to pray for me and for the future of our Church,” Shio III said, adding that his hope was to continue serving “with unity, love and peace” for the benefit of the Church and the Georgian nation.
The enthronement of the new Patriarch will take place on Tuesday (12 May) at the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
The newly elected Patriarch now assumes responsibility for guiding the Georgian Orthodox Church into a new era while preserving the unity, spiritual heritage, and historic traditions of the Georgian nation.
Source: commonspace.eu with The Orthodox Times and Interpressnews (IPN)
