The political scientist assessed the result of the election of the new Patriarch of Georgia

The result of the election of the new Georgian patriarch was predetermined, and Metropolitan Shio, who eventually won, was the clear favorite. Archil Sikharulidze, a political scientist and founder of the SIKHA Foundation Research Institute, stated this in an interview with Izvestia.

"I think the new patriarch will fight for the preservation of traditional values, and will also continue his predecessor's policy of maintaining friendly contacts with the Moscow Patriarchate. Perhaps he will try to strengthen the spiritual influence of the GOC in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In general, no radical changes are expected, in many ways he will probably continue the course of Elijah II," the expert suggested.

Playing with the throne: confrontation escalates in Georgia over the election of a new patriarch

According to the statute, the head of the GOC can be an ethnic Georgian tonsured monk between the ages of 40 and 70.

On May 11, an expanded meeting of the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church was held in the Tbilisi Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Tsminda Sameba), at which Metropolitan Shio (Mujiri) was elected as the new Catholicos-Patriarch. He received 22 votes with the required minimum of 20.

The previous patriarch, Ilia II, died in mid-March. The funeral ceremony was attended by thousands of believers, representatives of the clergy, officials and members of foreign delegations. Mikhail Shvydkoi, Representative of the President of Russia for International Cultural Cooperation, also attended the event.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Shio instead of Elijah: what will the new Georgian Patriarch change in relations between Moscow and Tbilisi