The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church is preparing the election of a new Patriarch: the date of the next meeting remains open

The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church continues to prepare for the process of electing a new Primate. The exact date of the next meeting of the Synod, during which it is planned to approve the lists of candidates and delegates, has not yet been officially approved and will be announced later.

According to Orthodoxia News Agency, Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, head of the Patriarchate’s public relations service, explained the situation with the planning of the meetings. According to him, the date of April 24, previously mentioned in the media, was only one of the possible options and has not received final status. The official notification about the time of the meeting will be published as soon as the final decision is made.

According to the minutes of the previous Synod meeting, the hierarchs are to consider the final list of candidates at the next meeting. In accordance with the procedure, a «triprosopo» (list of three candidates) will be formed, which will later be presented to the expanded Council for the election of the new Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. The voting itself and the solemn election procedure will take place at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Tsminda Sameba) in Tbilisi.

To ensure a high level of legitimacy and «fair, transparent and organized conduct» of the election, the Synod decided to create three specialized commissions: counting, mandate and editorial. In parallel, diocesan bishops are obliged to prepare and submit for approval full lists of delegates from their metropolitanates who will participate in the enlarged Council.