The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church will meet to discuss the procedure for electing a new Patriarch

The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church has scheduled a meeting for Friday, April 3, 2026, to coordinate organizational issues related to the process of electing a new Primate. The meeting will begin at 12:00 noon local time in the Patriarchate building. This is reported by the Orthodoxia News Agency.

The meeting will be chaired by the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio of Senaki and Chhorotsk. The main attention will be paid to the issues that are not enshrined in the current Statute of the Church, but require prompt resolution to ensure transparency and legality of the electoral process. In particular, it is planned to discuss the regulations for convening an extended church meeting, which will form a list of three candidates to participate in the patriarchal elections.

According to an official report from the Patriarchate’s press service, also on the agenda are the issues of determining the venue of the expanded assembly and the procedure for delegating representatives from various dioceses. All these steps are necessary to comply with the provisions of the Charter, which prescribes that the procedure for electing a new Primate be completed within two months of the vacancy of the throne.

Recall that the need to elect a new head of the Church arose after the death of Patriarch Ilia II, who went to the Lord on March 17, 2026 after 49 years of high priestly service. According to the established deadlines, the name of the new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia should be known no later than mid-May.