Ambassadors of Israel, the United Kingdom, Italy, Armenia, and Turkey met with Georgian Patriarch Shio III on June 11 in what the Patriarchate said were separate “introductory meetings” with the newly enthroned leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The diplomats received by Shio III at the Patriarchate in Tbilisi included Israel’s Walid Abu Haya, the UK’s Gareth Ward, Italy’s Massimiliano D’Antuono, Armenia’s Ashot Smbatyan, and Turkey’s Mustafa Türker Arı.
They “once again expressed their condolences over the passing of the Catholicos of All Georgia [Ilia II], and also congratulated Shio III on his election as the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia,” said Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, head of the Public Relations Department of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who also attended the meetings.
“The discussions with each ambassador were friendly in content, with emphasis placed on the friendship between our countries and the warm attitude of these countries toward our emigrants,” he added.
“The conversation also touched upon the universal problems that are currently affecting almost all countries in the world today: the preservation of traditional values and problems related to family culture,” he said, adding that the talks also concerned “global problems related to ongoing wars, which pose a threat to societies of all countries in general and to peaceful coexistence.”
On May 27, Shio III also met with a visiting U.S. State Department delegation. The talks reportedly covered relations between the two countries and their “shared Christian values,” with both sides expressing readiness to “deepen cooperation” and “strengthen these values.”
Shio III was enthroned as Patriarch of Georgia on May 12, a day after his election, succeeding the late Ilia II, who died at the age of 93 in March after nearly half a century at the helm of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
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