The death of the Patriarch became a common sorrow. We, strangers to each other, got united by grief, - the Head of the Public Relations Service of the Georgian Patriarchate, Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, said in a conversation with journalists.

According to Jagmaidze, during the mourning days, various false information was spread with political motives, which became a subject of controversy in society.

“There are still many people who were unable to attend the funerals, despite the fact that the Trinity Cathedral was open 24 hours a day. However, everyone can come to the Patriarch’s grave.

Nothing has been said yet [about the Holy Synod meeting]. The mood is still mournful, although we have been very busy with organizational issues. Mourning and paying respects at the same time is a rather heavy burden for everyone.

What we have seen in society these days is that unanimity must be maintained and it is very sad when someone tries to turn any process from this event into political assessments, and I ask everyone to refrain from spreading false information, unverified information, such as the one regarding the Ecumenical Patriarch’s liturgy, which was a complete lie. During these days, controversial topics were forcibly found in order to artificially divide the population into parties. Let's not follow such topics, just as a grieving family does not follow trifles. It would be our respect for the Patriarch not to respond to secondary topics that only bring division in society. If any suspicious information is spread, check it with an official source. We are always ready to provide you with the reality and explain it to you," Jagmaidze said.

When asked whether the Patriarch's will exists, Jagmaidze replied that the will of Ilia II is that he named his successor during his lifetime.

“After the Patriarch announced his enthronement on November 23, 2017, I was going on television to make my first comment, His Holiness explained what he wanted to talk about. I took a piece of paper and wrote down what he said, which I still have today.

He said something like this: “There is speculation about where the will is, what is written in the will [you remember that very embarrassing topics were being discussed at that time, like the key to the safe was hanging on his belt, etc.], they say the key is hanging on my belt, etc. I wrote down what should be written in the will, so that people are no longer interested in these topics, and I announced it out loud so that there is no more discussion.”

Therefore, we must consider that the order that the Patriarch wrote and published about nine years ago is a testament," Jagmaidze said.