Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarch Shio III received a delegation from the Moscow Patriarchate, with the sides discussing “troubled regions” and relations between the two countries, the Georgian Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service reported on September 30.
“During the meeting, the parties discussed relations between the two countries,” the Patriarchate said. “Attention was paid to the situation in the troubled regions and on what could be done to find ways of enabling the Georgian Orthodox Church to establish relations with the local parish,” it added, apparently referring to Georgia’s Russia-occupied regions of Tskhinvali/South Ossetia and Abkhazia, without mentioning the occupation or the names of the regions.
The sides also exchanged what the statement described as “symbolic gifts,” while the delegation congratulated Shio III on his enthronement and personally passed congratulations from Moscow’s Patriarch Kirill, according to the statement.
The Russian delegation included Metropolitan Anthony (Sevryuk) of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations; Archpriest Nikolay Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow; Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, deputy chairman of the Department for External Church Relations; Priest Nikolay Vasin, assistant to the department’s chairman; and Vladimir Alexandrov, the Moscow Patriarchate’s representative in Georgia.
On the Georgian side, the meeting was attended by Metropolitan Theodore of Akhaltsikhe and Tao-Klarjeti; Metropolitan Gerasime of Zugdidi and Tsaishi; Metropolitan Andria of Gori and Ateni; Bishop Vakhtang of Nikortsminda; Protopresbyter Giorgi Zviadadze; Archpriest Mikael Botkoveli, secretary to the Catholicos-Patriarch; and Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, head of the Patriarchate’s Public Relations Service.
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.
The visit comes amid continued scrutiny of Shio III’s past connections with Russia, including through his clerical and academic background. He served in senior church positions in Georgia and at a Georgian parish in Moscow, studied remotely at the Moscow Theological Seminary, and completed a doctorate at Moscow’s St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University in 2015.
Moscow also showed interest in the Georgian Church’s succession process following Ilia II’s death.
But in the months after Ilia II’s death, Shio III has not shown any particular leanings towards Moscow, with the representatives from the Russian church remaining largely in the background during Ilia II’s funeral and Shio III’s enthronement, while representatives of Western Orthodox churches, including Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew, received more prominence.
Shio III has yet to visit Moscow since his enthronement. Reports have indicated that he is preparing for a visit to Constantinople Patriarch Bartholomew in Istanbul, and has also discussed the visit with guests from the Constantinople Patriarchate.
Georgian Orthodox Church maintained regular contacts with the Moscow Patriarchate even after Tbilisi cut diplomatic ties with Moscow following 2008 war and Russia’s recognition of Georgia’s occupied territories as independent states. Ilia II visited Moscow six times after the war, with his last visit taking place in November 2016.
The Moscow Patriarchate has formally continued to recognize Georgia’s Russia-occupied regions as falling within the canonical jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Still, Russian Orthodox clergy have operated in both regions, and Russian military chaplains have also served at bases in the occupied territories, while Georgian clergy have had little or no access to the territories.
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