Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of the Orthodox Church of Georgia, widely credited for the renewal of the church after the fall of communism, died 17 March. He was 93.
As messages of condolence poured into the republic in the Caucasus, the patriarch’s body was transferred to the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Tbilisi. The Georgia government declared a period of mourning and ordered flags flown at half-staff. The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church decided the patriarch would be buried 22 March in Sioni Cathedral, according to wishes he made known to his family.
The catholicos was elected 25 December 1977, and led the nation’s Orthodox Church then repressed under Soviet rule. As the Soviet system lost its grip in the late 1980s, the Orthodox Church of Georgia returned as a major force in the lives of all Georgians. Renewal gathered steam after Georgia declared its independence in 1991. Churches throughout the country reopened, new structures were consecrated, and theological academies and seminaries opened.
But the catholicos’ influence spread to civil society, too. He called on church leaders to house and care for homeless children and youth. He asked sculptor and enamel artist David Kakabadze to revive the dying Georgian art of cloisonné enamel — and to then teach the art form to a cloister of sisters, from which it spread. The catholicos-patriarch also sponsored a new school for chanting and folk music at the Tbilisi Conservatory of Music.
Bartholomew I, ecumenical patriarch of Constantinople, in concluding his message of condolence on the death of the catholicos-patriarch, referred to the late Ilia II as a “brother and concelebrant,” expressing his prayerful wish that his memory remain “eternal and unforgotten.”
In Washington, Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America sent a message of condolence to the Georgian church, citing Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia’s life “as a profound witness to faithfulness, perseverance and pastoral love. For decades, he guided the Georgian Church through times of great trial and renewal, preserving her unity, strengthening her witness, and nurturing the spiritual life of her faithful. His ministry bore enduring fruit not only within Georgia, but throughout the Orthodox world, where he was widely recognized as a father among hierarchs and a steadfast confessor of the Orthodox faith.
“Throughout his life, His Holiness exemplified the Gospel he proclaimed,” Metropolitan Tikhon said.
“At this delicate moment for your people, I join you in prayer and in your grateful remembrance of the shepherd and father who guided you with kindness, wisdom and evangelical strength for so many years,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a telegram to the Archbishop Shio, metropolitan of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, who is serving as the “locum tenens” of the patriarchal see until the holy synod of the Orthodox Church of Georgia elects a new catholicos-patriarch.
“Throughout his long life, Patriarch Ilia II was a devoted witness to faith in the Risen Christ. His ministry accompanied the Georgian people through difficult times and profound epochal change, lovingly preserving tradition and opening hearts and communities to hope.
“I would also recall his deep passion for music, which is a stimulus to the search for the beauty of God and can unite peoples, bringing Churches closer together beyond cultural and theological differences.
“For many, he was a spiritual father, a voice of reconciliation and a tireless builder of unity. He met with two of my esteemed predecessors — Saint John Paul II and Pope Francis — always in a spirit of cordiality and fraternity.”
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze noted the late church leader’s capacity for forgiveness and said that over his nearly five decades of leadership, “he remained the spiritual leader of the nation and a symbol of unity.”
During a 2016 visit to Georgia, Pope Francis met with Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia, who was moving with great difficulty because of the Parkinson’s disease that had taken hold in the latter years of his life.
During the visit, the patriarch spoke warmly of Catholic-Orthodox dialogue and practical cooperation and told Pope Francis: “This is truly a historic visit. May God bless our two churches.”