1+ week, 5+ day ago  (107+ words) Shio Mujiri has become the new Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia after receiving 22 votes at an expanded church assembly on 11 May. His election marks the end of nearly 50 years under Ilia II and opens a new chapter for the Georgian Orthodox Church…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago  (744+ words) New Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Shio III used his first public sermon to call for stronger legislation in response to the demographic crisis, against what he described as "gender ideology, and in defence of family values. His remarks focused on both…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago  (404+ words) On 11 May, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church elected Shio Mujiri as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. Twenty-two of the Synod's 39 members voted for him. The new patriarch took the name Shio III. Georgian politicians and political parties congratulated Shio…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago  (153+ words) Epiphanius I of Ukraine has congratulated Shio Mujiri on his election as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. "I wish the newly elected Patriarch many blessed years of service, wisdom, spiritual strength and God's help in his role as the spiritual leader…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago  (500+ words) The assembly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which met at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, elected Shio Mujiri by 22 votes as Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, Metropolitan of Pitsunda, Sukhumi and Abkhazia, and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. The new Patriarch took…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago  (1174+ words) Following reforms in the 1950s, Soviet authorities began allowing a limited number of Muslims to perform the Hajj in the early 1960s. However, the Soviet Council for Religious Affairs believed that sending individuals to Mecca did not serve the interests of the…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago  (1702+ words) Election of Georgia's patriarch The election of a new head of the Georgian Orthodox Church is entering a decisive phase. On 11 May, an expanded session of the Holy Synod will be held and a new patriarch will likely be chosen…...

1+ mon, 8+ hour ago  (1039+ words) In the autumn of 1959, Moscow was forced to replace the head of the Azerbaijan SSR. He was sent to the Belgorod region as deputy head of the regional KGB directorate. Fyodor Kopylov, who had overseen the republic since September 1956, was…...

1+ mon, 2+ day ago  (411+ words) The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church has put forward three candidates for the patriarchal throne: Metropolitan Shio Mujiri of Senaki and Chkhorotsku, Metropolitan Iob Akiashvili of Ruisi and Urbnisi, and Metropolitan Grigori Berbichashvili of Poti and Khobi. The…...

1+ mon, 2+ week ago  (525+ words) In the former Soviet Union, including Soviet Azerbaijan, religious life " particularly Islam and its followers " went through a difficult and dramatic period. The practice of barring female students wearing the hijab from attending classes has once again resurfaced in Azerbaijani…...