The funeral and burial of Patriarch Ilia II will take place on March 22nd

Georgia and the entire Orthodox world mourn the death of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, who passed away on March 17, 2026, at the age of 93. His Holiness headed the Georgian Orthodox Church for 49 years, becoming a symbol of national unity and true spiritual revival of the country.

According to Orthodoxia News Agency, the funeral rites and the funeral of the Primate will be held on Sunday, March 22. According to the last will of the deceased Patriarch, he will be buried in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. At present, His Holiness’ body has been moved to the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Sameba) for farewell. National mourning has been declared in Georgia, and state flags throughout the country are lowered as a sign of deep respect for the memory of the spiritual father of the nation.

Metropolitan Shio, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, who officially announced the death, called Elijah II «a guiding man of an entire epoch» and emphasized that this is an irreplaceable loss for the entire world Orthodox Church. Georgian Health Minister Mikhail Sarjveladze also noted the scale of the personality of the departed hierarch, saying that «Georgia will be different from tomorrow without Patriarch Ilia».

Patriarch Ilia II (born Irakli Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) ascended to the throne in 1977, when the Church was in deep decline due to Soviet repression. During the decades of his ministry, the number of dioceses grew from 15 to 47, and the number of active churches increased from 30 to two thousand. The most important achievements of his patriarchate were the recognition of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1990 and his personal involvement in strengthening the country’s demography: the Patriarch became godfather to more than 50,000 children.