Overview
- Shio III, elected Monday with 22 of 39 synod votes, was enthroned Tuesday at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta.
- The ceremony drew Bidzina Ivanishvili and Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, underscoring the church’s political clout.
- Patriarch Kirill of Moscow sent public congratulations and praised “sisterly” ties between the Russian and Georgian churches.
- Critics say his Moscow training and reported ties to Georgian Dream raise fears of greater Russian sway during ongoing protests.
- He succeeds Ilia II, a 49-year leader whose long tenure made the church Georgia’s most influential non-state institution.