Day: May 1, 2026

Patriarchal Locum Tenens Shio Mujiri, who temporarily governs the Georgian Orthodox Church ahead of the election of a new leader, met with Georgian Dream Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili on May 1.

“The discussion touched upon meetings with Georgian diaspora communities abroad, where various events will be held to mark the 1,700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion in Georgia,” the Patriarchate said.

The meeting, which took place at the Patriarchate, was also attended by Botchorishvili’s deputies – Giorgi Zurabashvili and Khatuna Totladze – as well as Metropolitan Daniel (Datuashvili) of the Chiatura and Sachkhere Diocese and Andria Jaghmaidze, Head of Patriarchate’s Public Relations Department.

The meeting comes as Georgia’s Orthodox Church is set to have a new patriarch after Ilia II passed away on March 17. Metropolitan Shio of the Senaki and Chkhorotsku Diocese, whom the late Patriarch Ilia II named as locum tenens as early as 2017, is one of three candidates shortlisted by the Holy Synod, which must elect a new patriarch by May 17 at the latest.

Also Read:

• 03/04/2026 – After Synod Meeting, Clergy Hint at Next Patriarch’s Education Requirement, No Decision on Age
• 01/04/2026 – Who May Succeed Patriarch Ilia II, And How Could It (Re-)Define Georgian Orthodox Church
• 22/03/2026 – Obituary | Ilia II – The Man Who Reinvented the Church
• 18/03/2026 – ‘End of Epoch’ – Georgia Mourns Patriarch