ILIA II, GEORGIAN PATRIARCH WHO GUIDED CHURCH THROUGH SOVIET COLLAPSE, DIES AT 93.(PHOTO).

 Ilia II, Georgian patriarch who guided church through Soviet collapse, dies at 93

   Ilia II, the long-serving spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church, has died at the age of 93, following hospitalization for massive internal bleeding, senior cleric Metropolitan Shio confirmed. He had led the Church for nearly 50 years, guiding it from a period of Soviet-era repression to becoming one of the most influential institutions in Georgia. The Holy Synod has 40 days to select a new Catholicos-Patriarch.

Born Irakli Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili on January 4, 1933, in Russia’s North Caucasus to a family from Georgia’s mountainous Kazbegi district, Ilia II studied at Moscow’s Theological Academy, which had briefly been closed under Soviet anti-religion policies. Ordained under the name Ilia, he returned to Georgia and steadily rose through the church hierarchy, becoming Catholicos-Patriarch in 1977. Under his leadership, the Church regained prominence after decades of Soviet crackdowns that left it with few clergy and desecrated holy sites. A 2002 agreement with then-President Eduard Shevardnadze further solidified the Church’s influence, granting it special rights in education, cultural preservation, and taxation.

Ilia II played a central role in shaping Georgia’s national identity after the collapse of the Soviet Union, filling an ideological vacuum as citizens sought spiritual and cultural grounding. The Church consistently ranked as the country’s most respected institution, and Ilia II himself was named Georgia’s most trusted figure in a 2008 poll, even as weekly church attendance remained low by European standards. He upheld conservative positions on social issues, opposing abortion and describing homosexuality as a “disease,” and he intervened in political debates, including urging the government to ban a 2013 gay rights march that ultimately went forward and resulted in violent counter-protests.

Internationally, Ilia II navigated tensions involving the Russian Orthodox Church and the war in Ukraine. While he expressed sorrow over the conflict and called for ceasefires, he later weighed in on disputes within the Orthodox world, urging reduced tensions between Russian-aligned and independent Orthodox churches. His statements in 2023 reflected concern over global peace, including the threat of nuclear catastrophe, and emphasized the spiritual value of peace as a “priceless gift of God.” Throughout his decades-long tenure, Ilia II left a lasting mark on both the religious and social life of Georgia, steering the Church through political, cultural, and international challenges.