To pay respects to the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, the Archbishop of Constantinople – New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, has arrived in Georgia.

From the airport, the Ecumenical Patriarch will proceed to the Holy Trinity Cathedral, where, together with the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Shio, and members of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Church, he will concelebrate the funeral service for His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II.

Various delegations from different countries and churches have arrived in Tbilisi to attend the funeral of the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, Ilia II. Among them are the President of the Republic of Armenia, Vahagn Khachaturyan, the Speaker of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of Azerbaijan, Sahiba Gafarova, as well as delegations from the Vatican and the Russian Orthodox Church. Representatives of various religious confessions are also attending the funeral.

At 15:00, the body of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, will be carried out from the Holy Trinity Patriarchal Cathedral in a funeral procession on foot toward the Sioni Patriarchal Cathedral.

For information: The Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, passed away at the age of 93. National mourning has been declared in Georgia in connection with the death of Ilia II. The Patriarch will be buried today, March 22, at Sioni Cathedral. As is known, the funeral will be attended by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.

His Holiness and Beatitude, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, Ilia II, was laid in repose at the Holy Trinity Cathedral on March 18. Since then, the flow of citizens attending the panikhidas (funeral services) has not ceased. The Holy Trinity Patriarchal Cathedral remained open 24 hours a day for people to pay their respects. Citizens spent nights in the cathedral courtyard to honor Ilia II.