Georgian Patriarchate denies rumors of resignation of Primate

The head of the public relations service of the Georgian Patriarchate, Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, called “another fantasy” the information circulated in the media that His Holiness Patriarch Ilia II is going to retire in the coming months, writes Pravlife.

In a conversation with journalists, the clergyman noted that the hierarchs of the Georgian Orthodox Church have paternal feelings for His Holiness and wish to continue to see him as Primate.

“None of the dates and deadlines that we heard about yesterday are true. This is another fantasy, a lie and another lie. The higher clergy are generally against this, they have paternal feelings for the Patriarch, and the mood is appropriate for the Patriarch to continue his ministry. This issue was not on the agenda,” Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze assured.

According to sputnik-georgia.ru, information that the Primate plans to announce his resignation at the end of December was disseminated by the opposition TV channel Mtavari Akhri the day before. According to the channel, the issue has already begun to be discussed at the secretariat of the Patriarchate, and the Holy Synod is simultaneously considering the procedure according to which a successor to the Primate of the Georgian Church will be chosen.