The Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
The Episcopal Church in The Anglican Communion
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF THE HOLY TRINITY
23 Avenue George V • 75008 Paris • France
OFFICE OF THE BISHOP
His Beatitude Ilia II
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
1933–2026
In Memoriam
The Episcopal Church in Europe marks with sorrow the passing of His Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church. His many decades of faithful, tireless labor in building up the church from the depredations of Soviet rule revived the life of the church in Georgia, and enabled it to serve as a source of national unity during the tensions and divisions of Georgia’s emergence from Soviet domination to national independence.
Patriarch Ilia had deep commitments to the noble task of ecumenical relationships between Christian churches, serving as a president of the World Council of Churches between 1979 and 1983. He was widely recognized throughout the Christian world as a vigorous defender of the role of the church in social relations. As the only Anglican presence in Georgia, the Episcopal Church gives thanks for his ministry and witness to the gospel of Christ.
We join with those who mourn his passing and give thanks for a life lived in such complete devotion to the life of the church.
The Right Reverend Mark D. W. Edington
Bishop in Charge