Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia

Ilia II of Georgia was a Georgian Orthodox cleric and theologian born in 1933 as Irakli Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili. He served as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1977 until his death on March 17, 2026, making him the longest-serving patriarch in the Church’s history and a central religious figure in modern Georgia.