Festive services marking the Sunday of Orthodoxy were held across Georgia, culminating in a gathering at the Patriarchal residence with Ilia II, who has rarely appeared at public events in recent years.

Following the Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri) of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, congratulated the Primate and thanked him for his contribution to strengthening the independence of the Georgian Orthodox Church, according to the Church’s press service.

“We thank God that our people preserve their greatest treasure — the Orthodox faith,” Metropolitan Shio said. He emphasized that fidelity to the Church remains the country’s spiritual foundation and “the principal guarantee of the nation’s survival.”

The metropolitan also recalled the landmark event of 1990, when the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church received formal recognition. “It was a great victory for our entire Church and the result of your tireless labor,” he told Ilia II, highlighting the Patriarch’s personal role in securing international acknowledgment of the Church’s status.

In his homily, Metropolitan Shio explained the theological meaning of the feast, which commemorates the final affirmation of the veneration of icons at the Seventh Ecumenical Council. He noted that the depiction of Christ in icons is rooted in the mystery of the Incarnation.

“Man is the image of the ineffable glory of God, despite the fall and the wounds of sin,” the hierarch said, stressing that Great Lent is a time of repentance without despair — a season of spiritual effort and active love.

This year, Georgia is marking the 1,700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion. According to the Patriarchate, steadfast adherence to Orthodoxy is viewed as a central historical and spiritual pillar of the nation.