Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II is 91 years old, he has been the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church for 46 years.
Elijah II was elected Catholicos-Patriarch 46 years ago – on December 23, 1977. The enthronement of the Patriarch took place on December 25, 1977.
Ilia II (in the world Irakli Georgievich Gudushauri-Shiolashvili) was born the fourth child in the family of Georgy Shiolashvili and Natalia Kobaidze. In 1927, the family moved to Vladikavkaz.
In 1952, Elijah II graduated from secondary school No. 22 in Vladikavkaz, the Moscow Theological Seminary in 1957 and the Moscow Theological Academy in 1960. On April 16, 1957, at the age of 24, with the blessing of Melchizedek III, a second-year student of the theological seminary took monastic vows.
Elijah II was ordained Bishop of Batumi and Shemokmed on August 26, 1963. He was rector of the Mtskheta Theological Seminary (from 1963 to 1972). In 1967 he became Bishop of Sukhumi, and since 1969 – Metropolitan.
After the death of Catholicos-Patriarch David V, on November 9, 1977, by the decision of the Holy Synod, he was appointed Patriarchal Locum Tenens. On December 23, 1977, he was elected Catholicos-Patriarch. Elijah's enthronement took place on December 25, 1977.
Under Ilia II, there was a large-scale revival of Orthodoxy in Georgia in the 1980s. Over the past few decades, the number of dioceses in Georgia has been increased to 42. In 1977, there were only 48 active churches in Georgia, now there are about 1,000 of them.
New theological educational institutions were opened under him, including the Tbilisi and Gelati Theological Academies. The largest church in Georgia, the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, was built in Tbilisi.