The Orthodox Church in Georgia has elected a new patriarch, choosing Metropolitan Shio Mujiri to lead one of the South Caucasus country's most influential institutions, a church spokesman said on Monday.
Mujiri, 57, will serve as Patriarch Shio III after receiving 22 votes from the 39-member Holy Synod at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in the capital Tbilisi, Georgian media reported.
He succeeds Patriarch Ilia II, who died in March after leading the Georgian Orthodox Church for nearly half a century, spanning the Soviet era, Georgia's independence and civil war years, and the rule of the national-conservative Georgian Dream party.
The party governs in an increasingly authoritarian manner modelled on Moscow and has frozen the country's European Union accession process despite ongoing protests.
In a country marked by deep political divisions, the highly conservative Orthodox Church remains a unifying force.
Shio III studied in Russia for several years and had long been viewed as a likely successor to Ilia II. Critical media outlets described him as the preferred candidate of both the Georgian government and the Russian Orthodox Church.
His enthronement ceremony is due to take place on Tuesday in the former capital, Mtskheta.