“Your Holiness, we sincerely congratulate you on your election as Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church. From today, you assume the honorable and at the same time highly responsible mission of leading our Mother Church and serving as the spiritual father of every Orthodox Georgian, of clergy and laity alike,” reads a statement released by Bidzina and Ekaterina Ivanishvili.

According to the congratulatory letter, it is an immense historical responsibility to serve the Church and the country at a time when society especially needs spiritual strength, unity, and peace.

“Your Holiness, it is a great historical responsibility to serve the Church and the country at a time when society particularly needs spiritual resilience, unity, and peace. This responsibility is even greater considering that you are continuing the path of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, who for half a century guided our people and country with dignity through a difficult and turbulent era.

We believe that your ministry will become a foundation for peace, mutual support, and national unity, and will further strengthen the centuries-old traditions and values of the Georgian Church upon which our national identity stands.

We wish you health, strength, and spiritual fortitude. May God bless Your Holiness and all of Georgia!” the statement by Bidzina and Ekaterina Ivanishvili says.