TBILISI, May 11. /TASS/. The extended church assembly has elected Bishop Shio, who served as locum tenens of the deceased head of the church, Ilia II, as the 142nd Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, according to the voting results announced by Bishop Anania.
"The Catholicos-Patriarch of the autocephalous Apostolic Orthodox Church of All Georgia has been elected Metropolitan Shio," Bishop Anania noted, adding that Shio received 22 votes out of 39.
The newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, Bishop Shio, who will reportedly bear the name Shio III, is to be enthroned on May 12 in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in the city of Mtskheta, near Tbilisi.
"The enthronement will take place tomorrow in Svetitskhoveli. The service will begin at 10:00 a.m. [6:00 a.m. GMT]," Shio III announced after he was declared the new Patriarch of Georgia.