Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, has died at the age of 93.
The official announcement was made by Bishop Shio at the Caucasus Medical Center.
The Patriarch was hospitalized at the Caucasus Medical Center with massive bleeding from the stomach. He was placed in the critical care unit.
Ilia II was elected Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia on December 23, 1977.
With the blessing of Ilia II, the Bible, theological collections, brochures, books, magazines, three types of calendars were published in modern Georgian; newspapers were founded.
In 1988, under the leadership of Ilia II, the Mtskheta Theological Seminary was transferred to Tbilisi and the Tbilisi Theological Academy-Seminary was founded; Theological schools were opened in various parts of Georgia: theological seminaries in Batumi, Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi.
A theological school and a gymnasium were established in Khulo; after centuries, the Gelati Theological Academy and the Gelati Academy of Sciences under the auspices of the church were revived; over the course of twenty years, the number of dioceses of the Georgian Church increased from 15 to 33; monasteries - up to 53; clergy - up to 1,000; new saints were canonized; the Holy Trinity Cathedral was built.
In 1960, the Catholicos-Patriarch defended his thesis on the topic: “The History of the Iverian Monastery of Mount Athos” at the Moscow Theological Academy to obtain the degree of Candidate of Theology. In 1978-1983 he was the President of the World Council of Churches, and since 1997 he has been a full member of the International Academy of Informatization at the United Nations and an honorary member of the Theological Academy of Crete. He is also an honorary doctor of theology of the New York Theological Academy and a doctor of theology of the St. Tikhon Theological Seminary of the Orthodox Church in the USA.
