At the age of 93, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Pitsunda, Sukhumi and Abkhazia, Ilia II, has passed away in Tbilisi. This was announced by the locum tenens of the patriarchal throne, Metropolitan Shio Mujiri.
Ilia II had been the primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1977—one of the longest-serving church leaders in the world, as well as one of the oldest bishops by date of ordination.
The parents of the future patriarch were from the Kazbegi region. His father, Giorgi Shiolashvili, was from the village of Sno, and his mother, Natalia Kobaidze, from the village of Sioni. Irakli Gudushauri-Shiolashvili was born on January 4, 1933, in Vladikavkaz (then Ordzhonikidze), as the fourth child in the family. He was named after King Erekle II.
After finishing school, Irakli enrolled in the Moscow Theological Seminary and later continued his studies at the Theological Academy. On April 16, 1957, at the age of 24, he took monastic vows with the name Ilia, in honor of the Holy Prophet Elijah.

On December 23, 1977, the 12th Council of the Georgian Orthodox Church was held at the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. Ilia Shiolashvili, who at that time held the position of Bishop of Sukhumi and Abkhazia, was elected head of the Church. He received the title of His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Ilia II; later, the title was expanded to include Metropolitan of Pitsunda, Sukhumi and Abkhazia.