Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, has passed away at the age of 93.

The announcement was made outside the Caucasus Medical Centre by Metropolitan Shio Mujiri, Locum Tenens of the Georgian Patriarchal Throne, The Caspian Post reports, citing Georgian media.

Following a deterioration in his health, Ilia II had initially been taken to the Chapidze Clinic and subsequently transferred to the Caucasus Medical Centre.

Ilia II, born Irakli Shiolashvili in secular life, was born on January 4, 1933, in Ordzhonikidze, North Ossetia, in the family of Giorgi Shiolashvili and Natalia Kobaidze.

He graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in 1960. In 1957 he was tonsured a monk and given the name Ilia; on April 18, 1957, he was ordained hierodeacon at the Patriarchal Sioni Cathedral; on May 10, 1959, he was ordained hieromonk at the Lavra of St Sergius; upon returning to his homeland he was appointed to serve at Batumi Cathedral; on December 19, 1960, he was elevated to the rank of Hegumen, and on September 16, 1961, to that of Archimandrite; on August 26, 1963, he was appointed Chorepiscopos to the Catholicos-Patriarch with the title of Bishop of Shemokmedi; from 1963 to 1972 he served as the first Rector of the Mtskheta Theological Seminary; in 1967 he was transferred to the Eparchy of Abkhazia; in 1969 he was elevated to the rank of Metropolitan; and on November 9, 1977, he was appointed Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne.

The then-Metropolitan of Sokhumi-Abkhazia, Ilia II, was unanimously elected Catholicos-Patriarch at the Twelfth Church Council, held at Sioni Cathedral on December 23, 1977.

His enthronement took place at Svetitskhoveli Cathedral on December 25 of the same year.

The name of Ilia II is inseparable from the restoration and construction of churches and monasteries throughout Georgia from the Soviet era onwards, the restoration of the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the opening of theological seminaries and church schools, the growth in the number of eparchies, parishes and clergy, the deepening of international ties, and numerous significant publications and scholarly-educational endeavours.

A defining moment of his ministry was the recognition of the Georgian Church’s autocephaly by the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1990. His Holiness painted more than twenty icons, among which his depiction of the Holy Trinity is particularly celebrated. Under his blessing, the Bible was published in modern Georgian, alongside numerous theological collections, pamphlets and books. Ilia II also established the tradition of universal baptism of newborns.