TBILISI, March 22. /TASS/. A funeral service has begun at Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral for late Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II who died at the age of 93, a TASS correspondent reported from the scene.
Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne Metropolitan Shio is leading the funeral ceremony attended by hierarchs of the Georgian Orthodox Church and representatives of foreign church delegations. The arrival of Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew is expected later in the day.
Georgian President Mikhail Kavelashvili, Prime Minister Irakly Kobakhidze and other members of the republic’s government and parliament have been at the Holy Trinity Cathedral since early morning.
At 3:00 p.m. local time (11:00 a.m. GMT), the coffin with the deceased Georgian patriarch will be taken out of the Holy Trinity Cathedral and delivered to the Sioni Cathedral where he will be buried.
Ilia II died on the evening of March 17 at a Tbilisi hospital. Georgia announced mourning for the late Georgian patriarch before the day of his funeral.