Members of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC) on Monday elected Metropolitan Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri), the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, as patriarch of Georgia at a closed extended meeting of representatives of dioceses, Metropolitan Anania (Japaridze) told reporters.
According to media reports, the newly elected Patriarch Shio is 57 years old. Prior to his tonsure as a monk in 1993, Shio studied at the Tbilisi Conservatory. In 1999 he graduated from the Batumi Theological Seminary, then continued his theological education at the Moscow Theological Academy and the Orthodox Svyato-Tikhonov Humanitarian University, from which he graduated in 2005. In 2003, he was elected a bishop by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, and in 2010 he was elevated to the rank of metropolitan.
In 2017, Metropolitan Shio was appointed Metropolitan of the Patriarchal Throne by the decree of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia died on 17 March at the age of 93. He was the 141st patriarch of Georgia.