The funeral service for the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, is currently underway at the Holy Trinity (Sameba) Cathedral in Tbilisi.
The requiem service is being led by the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, together with the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio, and members of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Clergy from Georgia and abroad, alongside thousands of faithful, have gathered at Sameba Cathedral to pay their final respects to the spiritual leader who guided the Georgian Church for decades.
Based on the funeral protocol, at 15:00 the body of Ilia II will be carried out from the Holy Trinity Patriarchal Cathedral and taken in a funeral procession on foot toward the Sioni Patriarchal Cathedral, where he will be laid to rest.
The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, passed away at the age of 93. A nationwide day of mourning has been declared in Georgia in connection with his death.
Ilia II, who served as Patriarch for more than four decades, is widely regarded as one of the most influential spiritual figures in modern Georgian history, playing a significant role in preserving national identity and strengthening the Church during and after the Soviet period.
He will be buried today, March 22, at the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi.
Image source: IPN
