> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://uoj.news/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Shio III Enthroned as Patriarch of Georgia
- URL: https://uoj.news/news/87110-shio-iii-enthroned-as-patriarch-of-georgia/
- Published: 2026-05-12T14:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-25T16:07:16.000Z
- Description: His Holiness and Beatitude Patr. Shio III succeeds the great Patr. Ilia II as the 142nd primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
- Author: Aaron Hickman
- Tags: #Category: News, Georgian Orthodox Church, Georgia, Patriarch Shio of Georgia

**MTSKHETA —** After being [elected](https://uoj.news/news/87100-breaking-metr-shio-elected-catholicos-patriarch-of-georgia/) Monday afternoon as the new Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Shio III has been officially enthroned in a Tuesday morning ceremony at the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta. The enthronement coincides with the commemoration of St. Andrew the First-Called Apostle’s entry into Georgia, a particularly revered day honored as a national holiday and day off from work since 2003.

![His Holiness and Beatitude Shio III is crowned with the patriarchal mitre. Photo: UOJ-Georgia](https://uoj.news/content/images/2026/05/87110-shio-iii-enthroned-as-patriarch-of-georgia-body-1-38555fb794dd.jpg)

His Holiness and Beatitude Shio III is crowned with the patriarchal mitre. Photo: UOJ-Georgia

In His Holiness' first speech after the enthronement, he stated that the Church is a bastion of unity in the face of many difficulties placed before us by modern life, [UOJ-Georgia reports](https://mzk.ge/ge/news/89730-akhali-patriarkis-sitqva-svetitskhovelshi).

> "Therefore, the burden of patriarchal service has become twice as heavy, requiring even greater labor and spiritual struggle.  
>  
> That is why we must share this ministry together.  
>  
> It is necessary to open wide the doors of the Church for everyone.  
>  
> The future of the country and our children are our future.  
>  
> Today, standing before this great apostolic responsibility, I turn in prayer to the blessed souls.  
>  
> To humbly bear the heavy cross.  
>  
> To continue the path for the sake of increasing love among the people.  
>  
> I remember the saints of our country, and I am overcome with a sense of my own powerlessness.  
>  
> It is difficult to find an answer to the question of why God has laid such a heavy cross upon me.  
>  
> Yet I am conscious of it.  
>  
> I ask the saints for help on this difficult path.  
>  
> Great thanks to the hierarchs for their trust.  
>  
> May we glorify the Lord with love and unity. Amen.  
>  
> Christ is Risen!"

UOJ-Georgia has been [reporting](https://mzk.ge/ge/news/89731-svetitskhovlis-ezoshi-shekrebili-mghvdelmsakhurebi-da-mrevli-patriarks-intronizatsias-ulotsavs) on the ground and spoke with priests and parishioners of the Georgian Orthodox Church about the momentous occasion.

0:00 

/0:23 

1× 

Patr. Shio is the 142nd primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. He won Monday's election with 22 out of 39 votes.

Previously, the [UOJ reported](https://uoj.news/news/87102-metr-tikhon-congratulates-newly-elected-patr-shio-of-georgia/) that Metr. Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA) had sent a letter congratulating the new patriarch on his election.