The election of a new Catholicos of the Georgian Orthodox Church has begun in Georgia.

The election of a new Catholicos-patriarch to head the Georgian Orthodox Church has started in Georgia. On Tuesday, April 28, Izvestia published footage outside the building of the Georgian Patriarchate, where dozens of people had already gathered.

"The election of the Catholicos-Patriarch is held in strict accordance with the charter of the Georgian Orthodox Church. First, the cenote determines three candidates, then the final vote is held at an expanded meeting," said Alexey Poltoranin, a correspondent for Izvestia.

At this stage, the authorized persons, as he added, gathered in order to elect participants in the final stage of the elections. In the future, the new title will go to the candidate who can get more than half (50%) of the votes.

Now, judging by the footage, media employees have gathered outside the building. The facility itself, where the clergy are located, is guarded by local law enforcement agencies, which do not allow representatives of the press to approach its walls. On the captured facades, multi-meter posters with images of those who claim to be the new Catholicos are visible.

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Archil Sikharulidze, a political scientist and founder of the SIKHA Foundation Research Institute, told Izvestia on April 3 that there was a high level of tension in Georgia due to the election of a new patriarch. Thus, during his lifetime, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, who died on March 17 at the age of 94, appointed 57-year-old Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri) of Senaki and Chorotskui as locum tenens. According to the expert, the probability that the designated person will be ordained is high.