THE new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Shio III, has urged the Georgian Orthodox Church to work for “unity and peace” during current national tensions.

“We must open the Church’s doors to all, actively reaching out to those feeling distant from its life,” the Catholicos said. “For centuries, our country has struggled, fought and been torn apart, but still it unites after losing its sons, gets back on its feet after falling.”

He was preaching on Tuesday during his enthronement in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta, a day after his election (News, 1 May). He said that he would continue the “path and legacy” of the late Ilia II, who died on 17 March after half a century in office.

Born Elizbar Mujiri, the new Patriarch, who is 57, took the name Shio on becoming a monk in 1993.

Ordained priest three years later, he completed theological studies in Moscow, becoming an abbot and rising rapidly from 2003 to be a bishop, archbishop, and metropolitan. In 2017, he was appointed locum tenens to the ailing Patriarch Ilia, who was consistently ranked Georgia’s most trusted figure in opinion polls.

Commentators said that Shio was considered conservative on family life and the place of women, and had been favoured among three candidates by the governing Georgian Dream party. The government’s accession talks with the European Union have been stalled since 2024 because of authoritarian laws relating to the media, NGOs, and the LGBTQ+ community.

In a message on Monday, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze, said that the Orthodox Church, dating from the early fourth century, had been “an unwavering pillar of Georgia’s statehood”, preserving the “eternal values” that had sustained the country throughout its history.

A former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a 12-year prison sentence for alleged embezzlement and abuse of power, urged Shio III to “protect people from injustice” and to help to “eliminate Russian influences and narratives”.