u/External_Tangelo — reddlx

Recently the Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church met and selected three candidates for the job of Patriarch, they will meet again within 20 days and select one of them. Here are the candidates and what's being said about them.

Bishop Shio -- a trained cello player and currently the "temporary patriarch" as selected by Ilia 9 years ago. Notably a highly irregular procedure, as the locum tenens is only supposed to be revealed upon the death of the Patriarch. As Ilia was in failing health for the last decade or more, it is presumed that he was pressured to select his "successor" by political forces. Shio is considered to represent a mildly pro-Russian wing of the Georgian Church, as he studied in Moscow and has favored good relations with the Russian Patriarchate over the Ecumenical Patriarchate. More importantly, he is considered to be Georgian Dream's man in the church. People close to the situation say that Shio is a weak-willed man, easily dominated and easily manipulated by money (he notably travels around in not one but two black G-Classes). If he is selected, he will undoubtedly use the church to further government policies and propaganda. However, he will not be able to maintain the iron control and respect that Ilia II had wielded throughout the Church hierarchy, which will likely result in many more public fractures, squabbles, and scandals in the Church. Shio received 20 of 39 votes in the election, enough to give him the position outright at the next meeting if none of his electors defect.
Bishop Job -- one of the leaders of the most conservative wing of the church, notable for outspoken positions about homosexuality, abortion, etc. Originally a big supporter of Georgian Dream, he is said to have split with them after Gavrilov Night, as he is a purely Georgian nationalist at heart and does not trust the hierarchs of the Russian Church. Job can be said to represent the "Alt-Info" conservative-nationalist side of the church and received 7 votes in the election.
Bishop Grigol of Poti. If there is a liberal and pro-western candidate in the election, it's Bishop Grigol. Although not as outspoken as other hierarchs like Bishop Zenon of Dmanisi, he was one of a minority of church figures to openly condemn government violence against protesters during the 2024 protests. He also received attention during the COVID pandemic for being the only bishop to close all of his parishes during the national shutdown, while other bishops expressed the opinion that it was impossible to catch a virus in a church or from a shared communion spoon. While not explicitly politically aligned, it is assumed that Grigol would be the most enthusiastic of the patriarchal candidates about creating reforms and targeting corruption in the church. Grigol received 7 votes in the election.

These three candidates accounted for 34 of 39 votes; 4 votes were given to other bishops and one blank ballot was cast. The winning candidate must receive 20 votes; if no candidate receives 20 votes, the voting is held again between the top two finishers.

Several notable characters were not able to stand as candidates:

Bishop Daniel was disqualified due to being too old and not having a theological degree. He is an influential national-conservative similar to Job, but it is said that many of his supporters at least in this vote moved their support to Shio. If Shio's support is to diminish below the 50% mark, these bishops would be prime targets for Job's supporters.
Bishop Isaiah, perhaps the most universally respected member of the Synod, was disqualified for not having a theological degree. Bishop Isaiah is noted for his humility, piety, and aversion to worldly possessions, in contrast to many of his colleagues; famously, when Saakashvili gifted Land Cruisers to each bishop, Isaiah sold his and bought school buses for his parish. He is also notable for his work with refugees and in the occupied territories (his parish is in Shida Kartli by and across the occupation line) and for starting an acclaimed arts school and international film animation festival in his village. There had been hopes that Isaiah would emerge as a compromise candidate for the anti-Shio wing of the church, however, the synod confirmed the election rules which had been put in place by Ilia which required patriarchal candidates to have a university degree in theology (Isaiah has a degree in film animation).
Several other potential candidates are rumored to have withdrawn their candidacy after having been "accused of moral failings". It's nearly forgotten in today's Georgia but some 8 years ago a big scandal emerged in the church where huge files of blackmail that the Interior Ministry had created on the clergy were leaked to the media. Most of the contents of the files were not published by the media and in fact the media mostly collaborated to hush the matter up. Nevertheless, the facts were established that not only were huge numbers of the clergy gays, pedophiles, and womanizers, the Interior Ministry possessed massive files of documentation, secret recordings, and other compromising material in proof of this. This, perhaps, explains the solid support for Bishop Shio when, by all accounts, he is not a very charismatic or well-liked character. It's almost certain that multiple bishops have been threatened that their proclivities will be publicly revealed if they do not grant their support to Shio, who, as mentioned before, is the candidate that the Georgian Dream believes they can control once he assumes the Patriarchal throne.

In conclusion, it seems overwhelmingly likely that the weakly pro-Russian, strongly pro-government Shio will become the next Patriarch of the GOC. If another candidate is to emerge victorious, the anti-Shio wing would have to unite behind either Job or Grigol (which seems difficult given their disparate visions for the role and future of the church), convince some of Shio's supporters to defect, and withstand heavy pressure from the secret police.