His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, was escorted out of the Holy Trinity Cathedral.

“We love you, Patriarch” – Ilia II was escorted out of the Holy Trinity Cathedral amid these chants and applause.

The Patriarch will be taken from the Holy Trinity Cathedral to the Sioni Patriarchal Cathedral in a procession, where he will be buried. Along the entire route from the Trinity Cathedral to Sioni, a special corridor has been arranged, formed by members of the military, for the funeral procession.

The Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral began at 09:00 in the morning. The service was conducted by the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne of All Georgia, Metropolitan Shio Mujiri of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, together with members of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Church.

The funeral rite was performed by the Archbishop of Constantinople–New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, together with Metropolitan Shio and members of the Holy Synod.

Ilia II passed away on March 17. Since March 18, his public farewell has been held at the Trinity Cathedral. Thousands of citizens paid tribute to his memory. During these days, the stream of people wishing to say goodbye to the Patriarch flowed continuously, 24 hours a day. In many cases, citizens had to wait in line for several hours to enter the cathedral. Many people spent the night in the area around the Trinity Cathedral due to the long queues of citizens.