Shio III elected Georgian Orthodox Patriarch

May 13, 2026

The bishops of the Orthodox Church of Georgia (CNEWA profile) elected Shio III as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia on May 11.

Born in 1969, Elizbar Mujiri was ordained a priest in 1996 and consecrated a bishop in 2003. He ministered in Australia and New Zealand as well as in his native Caucasus nation.

Shio III’s predecessor, Patriarch Ilia II, appointed him the locum tenens (“holding the place,” or temporary administrator) of the Church in 2017. Patriarch Ilia died on March 17.

“May your ministry help strengthen the bonds of cordial friendship and promote an ever more fraternal dialogue between our Churches,” Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, a message to Patriarch Shio.

 

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Further information:

• Metropolitan Shio elected Georgia’s new Catholicos-Patriarch (Georgia Today, 5/12/26)
• Shio III is new Catholicos-Patriarch of Orthodox Church in Georgia (Vatican News, 5/12/26)
• Election of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, 5/11/26)
• Message of Cardinal Koch for the election of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, 5/11/26)