Thousands Mourn Patriarch Ilia II in Tbilisi

Large crowds of Orthodox Christians filled the streets of Tbilisi on Sunday to pay their final respects to Ilia II, the longtime spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church who died earlier in the week at age 93 after serving as patriarch for nearly half a century.

Ilia II, born Irakli Ghudushauri-Shiolashvili in 1933 in Russia's North Caucasus region to a family from Georgia's mountainous Kazbegi district, passed away on Tuesday in a Tbilisi hospital following admission the previous evening for massive internal bleeding, according to senior cleric Metropolitan Shio. He had led the church since his election as Catholicos-Patriarch in 1977, guiding it through the Soviet era's repressive antireligious campaigns and the civil wars of the 1990s that followed the Soviet Union's collapse.

The funeral procession drew thousands of Georgians of all ages to the embankment along the Kura River in the capital's center. Many carried flowers and lit candles as the cortege bearing Ilia II's coffin made its way to Sioni Cathedral, where he was laid to rest. Mourners lined the route, some weeping openly while others clapped in tribute, calling out "I love you, patriarch!" as the vehicle passed.