For two weeks in May of this year Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia paid a visit to the United States as the official guest of Metropolitan Theodosius, Primate of the Orthodox Church in America. Lately Patriarch Ilia has figured prominently in the news owing to the decision of the Georgian Orthodox Church to withdraw from the World Council of Churches. Representatives of “World Orthodoxy” and many public figures are quick to hail Patriarch Ilia as a renowned and “tireless advocate of Christian unity, justice, and peace among the peoples of the world”.¹ But perhaps a closer scrutiny of his words and deeds as an “Orthodox” hierarch are in order. As will be seen, much of the information presented here was culled from the official publications of the Georgian Orthodox Church itself, and from the news reports of the various ecumenist groups.²
Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II was born Herakles Gudushauri Shiolashvili into a family of Georgian peasants on December 4, 1933, in Orjonikidze (Vladikavkas), which is located on the northern slopes of the Caucasus, in the Russian Federated Socialist Republic, not in Georgia proper. In 1952 he entered the Moscow Theological Seminary, from which he graduated in 1956, whereupon he was accepted into the Theological Academy. Tonsured a monk in Tbilisi, Georgia, on April 16, 1957, he was ordained hierodeacon two days later, on April 18. Patriarch Alexis I of Moscow ordained Hierodeacon Ilia to the priesthood on May 10, 1959 in the Dormition Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergei Lavra. Hieromonk Ilia graduated from the Moscow Theological Academy in 1960. Later that year he returned to Georgia, and on December 19, 1960 was raised to the rank of Hegumen, and in 1961 to that of Archimandrite. Consecrated Bishop of Shemokmedi on August 25, 1963, he was appointed Vicar of Catholicos-Patriarch Ephraim II. On September 1, 1967 Bishop Ilia was appointed to the diocese of Sukhumi and Abkhazia, and then elevated to Metropolitan in 1969. From 1963-1972 he also held the office of Rector of the Georgian Orthodox Theological Seminary.

    Russia’s Catacomb Saints: Lives of the New Martyrs, citing the Communist newspaper Soviet Abkhazia, relates the details of the persecution, arrest, and imprisonment in 1976 of Archimandrite Gennady (Sekach) of the Catacomb Church in the Caucasus.³ Metropolitan Ilia, as the local diocesan bishop of the official Georgian Orthodox Church, of course, did nothing to help this persecuted Orthodox Christian, his competitor, as it were. Some accounts say that it was even he who betrayed Archimandrite Gennady to the authorities for having refused to come under his omophorion.⁴

    The English edition of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate reports on his activities abroad: “Metropolitan Ilia commendably represented the Georgian Orthodox Church at responsible Pan-Orthodox, Ecumenical and peace forums, and has visited many different countries”(JMP, No. 3, 1978, p. 46). Religion in Communist Lands, reprinting a brief biography supplied by the Georgian Orthodox Church, elaborates on this point: “During all these years he took part in much inter-church activity with the blessing of the Patriarch of Georgia, participating in many forums for the strengthening of world peace. With this aim he visited Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, Holland, Greece, Yugoslavia, India, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, USA, Hungary, and West Berlin as a delegate of the Georgian Orthodox Church” (Vol. 6, No. 4, Winter 1978, p. 263). One does not have to be a Sovietologist to know that under the Communist regime only its most trusted representatives were allowed to travel so extensively.

    On November 9, 1979, Catholicos-Patriarch David V of Georgia died. Religion in Communist Lands reports that, upon the death of Patriarch David V, Metropolitan Ilia was appointed Patriarchal Locum tenens of the Georgian Orthodox Church by the Holy Synod. Leading the delegation dispatched by Patriarch Pimen of Moscow to the funeral of Patriarch David was Metropolitan Alexis (Ridiger) of Tallinn and Estonia, the present Patriarch of Russia, and Pimen’s direct successor. The Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate notes that “during his stay in Tbilisi, the head of the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan Alexis, paid a visit to T. D. Onoprishvili, representative of the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers in the Georgian SSR” (JMP, No. 3, 1978, p. 43).

    This same issue of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate contains a feature article: “Election and Enthronement of Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia” (pp. 45-49). At its meeting held the same day as Catholicos-Patriarch David V’s demise, the Holy Synod decided to convoke the Local Council after a period of forty days to elect the new Primate of the Georgian Church.

    On the day before the expiration of this term, a delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by His Holiness, Patriarch Pimen, arrived in Tbilisi. The delegation comprised Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, Head of the Department of External Church Relations…

    This Local Council of the Georgian Orthodox Church… was held on December 23, 1979, in the Sioni episcopal Cathedral…in Tbilisi.

…At about 11 A.M. …the delegation from the Russian Orthodox Church was ceremoniously welcomed. His Holiness was given the place of honor in the presidium. …His Holiness, Patriarch Pimen, addressed the Twelfth Council of the Georgian Church, and in his speech he expressed the wish that the council fathers would elect a worthy Primate of the Church of Georgia.

    Bishop Gregory (Tsertsvadze) of Alaverdi, speaking on behalf of the Holy Synod, informed those present that, in the common opinion of the episcopate, clergy and laity, the only and most worthy candidate was the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Ilia. [Thereupon] Archimandrite John Ananiashvili read the biography of Metropolitan Ilia in Georgian, and a translation in Russian was read by Archpriest Alexander Shatirishvili.

    Thanking the Holy Synod for its great trust, Metropolitan Ilia beseeched all the members of the council to give free expression to their will when voting by ballot, and not to consider him the only candidate. The members of the council were given election forms, and, making the Sign of the Cross, they placed these in the ballot box…

    After all the votes had been counted, the chairman of the counting commission, Archimandrite John Ananiashvili, announced that all the members of the council had unanimously voted for the Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Ilia (who refrained from voting himself).

    Metropolitan Gaioz of Tsilkani read the official charter (sigillion) of the election…[which] was signed by all the members of the council.

    The enthronement of the newly elected Catholicos-Patriarch took place on December 25, 1979, in the Patriarchal Cathedral of Sveti-Tskhoveli, in Mtskheta. Patriarch Pimen served as chief celebrant. Once again this issue of the Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate furnishes the details:

    His Holiness Vazgen I, Supreme Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians, and the members of the Armenian Church delegation [i.e., Monophysites], attended the service in the sanctuary.

…and the patriarchal panagias and cross [were placed] round [Patriarch Ilia’s] neck by Metropolitan Gaioz of Tsilkani.
[According to eyewitness accounts, the first to greet the new Patriarch with a fraternal kiss of congratulation were Patriarchs Pimen and Vazgen. Then from the ambo all three Primates, in turn, blessed the faithful who had gathered in the cathedral of Sveti-Tskhoveli.]

…In his speech at the banquet… His Holiness, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, said…there are many problems in Georgia today, and the Church, which is unfailingly loyal to her patriotic duty, should participate in their solution. His Holiness, Patriarch Ilia expressed his high opinion of the new Soviet Constitution…

    In his speech His Holiness, Patriarch Pimen… expressed his conviction that during the primacy of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia, the Georgian Orthodox Church would loyally continue to support the patriotic and peace-making causes.

    …In his speech, His Holiness, Vazgen I, Supreme Patriarch-Catholicos of All Armenians, [said]: “I am sure that the Georgian [Communist] Government is well-disposed towards him and will help him in every way possible.” …A speech was also delivered at the banquet by Tengiz D. Onoprishvili, representative of the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers in the Georgian SSR…

    On the following day, December 26, 1979,… Paul G. Gilashvili, President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Georgian SSR, received [the three Patriarchs]… The reception was also attended by… Tengiz D. Onoprishvili, representative of the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers in the Georgian SSR. Later that day the Russian Church delegation left for Moscow.

    On December 28, 1977, the newly elected Patriarch sent the following telegram:

    To His Holiness Patriarch PIMEN of Moscow and All Russia

    Your, Holiness, my deep gratitude for your personal participation in the solemn acts of my election and enthronement as Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. You have warmed us with your love and bore witness to the indissoluble ties of friendship and fraternity that exist between our Autocephalous Churches…
+ Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia

    (JMP, No. 3, 1978, p. 3)

    Other eyewitnesses, however, give a somewhat different account of the election. After the death of Patriarch David V (Devdariani), the most likely candidate for the patriarchal throne seemed to be Metropolitan Gaioz (Kepatishvili) of Tsilkani, on whose side were the majority of the bishops and clergy. Another contender was Metropolitan Ilia of Sukhumi and Abkhazia, who also had a sizable following. Metropolitan Gaioz and his supporters forcibly occupied the Patriarchal headquarters, having ejected the watchman and lone nun, supporters of Ilia, who had been guarding it. Thereupon telegrams were sent to all the heads of the Local Orthodox Churches, announcing that Metropolitan Gaioz had been “elected” Locum Tenens of the Patriarchal throne. Oddly enough, these telegrams got no further than the local post office. It seems that the appropriate “competent organs” of state had by this time already reached a decision. (More on this below.) Then the militia burst into the headquarters of the Patriarchate, in turn forcibly expelled the followers of Metropolitan Gaioz, and ushered in those of Metropolitan Ilia, who was then declared Locum Tenens. And, of course, this time his telegrams reached their destination. The new Locum Tenens hastily consecrated several bishops from among his supporters in the clergy, thus “packing the court”.

    Metropolitan Gaioz was forced, for appearance sake, to participate in the election and enthronement of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II. He was made to place the Patriarchal panagias and cross around the neck of the new Primate — a bitter pill to swallow indeed! Soon thereafter Metropolitan Gaioz was arrested and charged with various crimes, including theft of church property, speculation in foreign currency, and moral depravity. The public prosecutor asked for the maximum sentence permitted by the law code then in force, which was fifteen years imprisonment. However, the plaintiff on behalf of the Church, Archimandrite Nicholas Makharadze, demanded the death penalty! Metropolitan Gaioz was eventually sentenced to fifteen years in prison and served the full term.

    Once elected Patriarch, Ilia II zealously continued his ecumenical activities. The Georgian Orthodox Church publishes its own official journal, Djvari Vazisa (The Grapevine Cross). Issue No. 2 for 1980 carried an intriguing announcement in the section Church Chronicle:

    In November of the present year, by order⁵ of the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers, and with the blessing of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, the Georgian Patriarchate has prepared for publication a booklet titled: The Orthodox Church in Georgia. This booklet will be published in five languages and is intended for distribution abroad. In it is recounted the glorious past of the Georgian Church, as well as her contemporary activities, both at home and abroad. The booklet is well designed and is illustrated throughout with color photographs.⁶ (p. 53)

    Turning to the text of the booklet itself, one reads in the English-language section:

    The internal and international prestige of the Georgian Orthodox Church is growing with every passing year. She is now a full and active member of such well-known international organizations as the World Council of Churches, the Christian Peace Conference and the Conference of European Churches.

    The Georgian Orthodox Church values highly the ecumenical movement. Her Primate, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, is the founder of ecumenism in Georgia and one of its leading figures in the world. For many years now he has been taking an active part in international ecclesiastical meetings and congresses at which he calls Christians to unity, peace and brotherhood.

    At the session of the WCC Central Committee in Kingston, Jamaica, in January 1979, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, was elected one of the six presidents of the World Council of Churches, which undoubtedly is a recognition of his contribution to present-day ecumenism.

    When in 1979 Patriarch Ilia II was thus elected one of the six presidents of the World Council of Churches, he then inserted the new title into the text of his official commemoration during the church services: “For our Great Lord and Father, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi, President of the World Council of Churches, Ilia II.”! He likewise used the title when issuing his annual Paschal and Christmas encyclicals, and in all published accounts of his ecumenical activities abroad (e.g.: Grapevine Cross, No. 2, 1981, p. 3). One would have thought that such a venerable and glorious title as Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia should have been sufficient for anyone. “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.”(John 12:43)

    Earlier in that same issue of Djvari Vazisa, in the section Church Chronicle, the following startling admission is made:

    August 10 [1980]: During the Sunday Liturgy in the Sioni Cathedral, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Ilia II, gave Holy Communion to a group of twenty French Roman Catholics from Paris. This was remarkable since, in the centuries-old history of the Georgian Church, this was the first case of Roman Catholics receiving Communion in the Orthodox Church. That same evening the Catholicos-Patriarch received the delegation of French Roman Catholics and conversed with them. (The Grapevine Cross, No. 2, 1980, pp. 51-52)

    Remarkable indeed, especially in view of the fact that at that time there was a functioning Roman Catholic church in Tbilisi!
The official printed wall calendar of the Georgian Orthodox Church for 1986 contains a striking photograph. Standing on the ambo of Sioni Cathedral is Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II, in full vestments and bearing a Cross in his hands. Standing next to him, and in his own vestments, is the Rev. Victor de Waal, Dean of Canterbury Cathedral, who is wearing on his breast the pectoral cross of a Georgian Orthodox priest, which had just been bestowed on him by the Patriarch.

    Another issue of Djvari Vazisa contains a lengthy account of the official visit (February 8-19, 1981) of Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II to Switzerland at the invitation of the World Council of Churches and of the Federation of Swiss Evangelical Churches. The delegation from the Georgian Orthodox Church arrived in Geneva on Sunday, February 8.

    On February 11 Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II paid a call on the Head of the Soviet mission to the UN Assembly, Z. Mironov, with whom he had a cordial discussion.

    On February 14 the delegation of the Georgian Church visited the Abbey of St. Maurice. …The speech made by Patriarch Ilia II was mainly dedicated to peace and justice: “Genuine followers of Christ must bear many sufferings, until the kingdom of God be established on earth… the construction of the kingdom of God on earth is the will of God… First and foremost this concerns Christian solidarity, the unification of various currents into one church, whose Head and Saviour is Jesus Christ.”

    On February 15 Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and President of the World Council of Churches, Ilia II attended Sunday services at the [Protestant] church of Nydeck in Bern, conducted by the pastor, Kurt Mart.⁷ …Afterwards the Georgian delegation was received by the Federation of Swiss Evangelical Churches. At this meeting His Beatitude Ilia II made a speech which was dedicated to the significance of the Ecumenical movement, and the necessity of annihilating the stockpiles of weapons which threaten the existence of mankind.

    That same evening Patriarch Ilia II celebrated vespers in the old Catholic church of Bern. …On February 16 he participated in the evening service in the chapel of the principal church in Schaffhausen, after which he met with the local pastors and delivered a speech before them.

    The visit of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II was broadly commented upon by the Swiss mass media: “Ilia II is a remarkable Ecumenical figure, the heir of Metropolitan Nikodim Rotov [of Leningrad]”.⁸ (Grapevine Cross, No. 1, 1981, pp. 6-15; 54-55)

    That the naive Protestants should offer Patriarch Ilia such a dubious compliment is perhaps understandable, but that the Georgian Orthodox Church would then print such a statement speaks volumes. To questions from the Swiss press concerning the persecution of Christians in the USSR, Patriarch Ilia II gave coy and evasive answers.

    Yet another issue of Djvari Vazisa features the report by Metropolitan Nicholas (Makharadze), Chairman of the Department of Foreign Relations of the Georgian Orthodox Church: “The Georgian Church at the Present Stage of the Ecumenical Movement”.

    Today… a matter of great import is the spiritual unification of peoples in the all-embracing love in Jesus Christ.
The lofty goal of the union of Churches is pursued by the Ecumenical movement, which has spread throughout the whole world.

    …The Georgian Church and its leader, Ilia II, President of the World Council of Churches, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia,⁹attaches great importance to the Ecumenical movement, supports it, and applies all efforts to contribute to its development and strengthening, and also to establish new contacts with fraternal churches. (Grapevine Cross, No. 1, 1983, p. 60)

    At the Paschal Liturgy in 1984 Patriarch Ilia gave Communion to two Roman Catholic priest-monks from Austria who were attending the service in the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi. Numerous clergy and faithful witnessed this; some protested vehemently.

    The San Diego Union-Tribune for November 4, 1989, reported the Eastern Orthodox rites planned in conjunction with the city’s art festival:

    Archpriest Zurab Siradve, representing Patriarch Ilia II of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union, will be the principal celebrant, said Dr. Issa J. Khalil, a spokesman for the San Diego Eastern Orthodox Churches.…

    Khalil, member of the committee arranging the Balboa Park service, said that the first half-hour of the service will include Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish and perhaps Baha’i participants. The second half-hour will be an Orthodox vespers service in which Siradve will be the principal celebrant.

    In the Spring of 1994, Patriarch Ilia II proclaimed from the ambo of the Sveti-Tskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta — the preeminent church of Georgia — that “the Oriental Orthodox Churches have recognized the [Ecumenical] Councils, and have accepted Orthodoxy.” This took place during the visit to Georgia of Metropolitan Damascene of Switzerland, Director of the Patriarchal Center in Chambésy (Geneva), and Professor Phidas of the University of Athens, Theologian of the State Church of Greece. At that time no one in Georgia had the faintest idea what was meant by the term “Oriental Orthodox Churches”. This deceptive pronouncement was followed by a propaganda campaign in the mass media claiming that the Armenians, of whom there are many in Georgia, and other Monophysites, had supposedly accepted the Orthodox Faith and could now be permitted to receive Holy Communion in the Georgian Orthodox Church. The truth only became known later when contradictory information refuting these statements was received from Mount Athos and other sources abroad. The attempts on the part of some of the Georgian clergy and laity to investigate this issue and to explain the truth to the common people only evoked the bitter animosity of the Patriarchate.

    In 1997 Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II was shown some of the anti-Ecumenical videos now circulating among the Orthodox, which contain explicit and revealing footage of the syncretistic events which have taken place at Ecumenical gatherings, and in which the Orthodox representatives have participated. According to the concerned clergy present, Patriarch Ilia grew quite agitated and alarmed — but, alas, not for the proper reason. Rather, he ordered them to gather up whatever copies there were of these videos, and to destroy them, lest the laity see them and learn what is the true face of Ecumenism!

    Ecumenical News International, while reporting the Georgian Orthodox Church’s decision to leave the WCC, declared that “Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II has had an outstanding record as an ecumenical leader, serving as one of the WCC’s presidents from 1979 to 1983” (Bulletin No. 11, June 11, 1997, pp. 10-12).

    In a press release published in the Moscow newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, July 24, 1997, Protopriest Vasily Kobakhidze, head of the Georgian Patriarchate’s Press Center declared :

    The Georgian Patriarchate has stated more than once that the Ecumenical movement is not a heresy; the purpose of the autocephalous Orthodox Churches’ participation in the Ecumenical movement is one: so that every man would become a member of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. This is the foundation of Orthodox ecumenism.
The Ecumenical movement does not have a common doctrine or a single set of rules. Each member preaches its own teaching, and the Orthodox — the teaching of the Orthodox Church.

    The WCC is an arena, a forum, where the Orthodox Church has the opportunity to conduct a theological discussion with the Protestant world. …The participation of the Orthodox Churches in the Ecumenical movement has produced many positive results.

    Most telling were the public festivities held last year on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the enthronement of Ilia II as Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia. President Shevardnadze proclaimed December 25 to be a national holiday, and he bestowed upon the Patriarch the highest state award of Georgia, the Order of King David the Builder, in recognition of Ilia’s “great contribution to the restoration and revival of the Autocephalous Georgian Orthodox Church for the spiritual and physical salvation of the Georgian nation, state construction in Georgia, special merits in asserting tolerance for other creeds,¹⁰ and the struggle for the unity of society, and the integrity of the nation.”!¹¹

    To mark the occasion Liturgy was served in all the churches, a reception was held at the Patriarchate, and conferences, exhibitions and theatrical productions were organized. The documentary film, The Revival of Faith, shot by Georgian and German film makers, and devoted to the activities of Ilia II, was shown at the Shota Rustaveli State Academic Theater in Tbilisi. (Who says that the Cult of Personality is dead in Georgia?!)

    At the televised gala concert in the opera theater, President Shevardnadze revealed: “When in 1977 difficulties arose in the Church over the election of a Patriarch, we considered the matter and decided in favor of Ilia, and this decision has proved to be correct.”! If one recalls that at that time Shervardnadze was First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Georgia, then one will realize the full significance of his statement here: “we decided…”! For his part, Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II told those gathered how, for many years after the Russian Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church had refused to recognize the re-established autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, but that finally, under coercion from the Soviet government, Patriarch Sergius of Moscow and his synod finally did accept it in 1943. Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II continued his account: “This, you must know, this great service was rendered us by Joseph Stalin.”! (Thunderous applause in the auditorium) He then went on to relate how on Soviet holidays they had been required to send greetings to the central Soviet Government on behalf of the Church, and how it had been imperative that in said letter they declare that the Georgian Orthodox Church fully supports the internal and foreign policies of the USSR. “That suited them, and thus they were assured that the Church did not offer any resistance whatsoever,” commented the Patriarch.

No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Luke 16:13)

[To be concluded in the next issue.]
________________________________________________________
¹ From the address delivered at the awards ceremony at which Patriarch Ilia II received his honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from St. Tikhon’s Seminary. See the Internet report at: http://www.stots.edu.
² The italics throughout these quotations have been added by the author of the present article.
³ Platina, California: Saint Herman of Alaska Press, 1982, pp. 549-51.
⁴ Information posted on the Internet by Vladimir Moss on orthodox@listserv.indiana.edu, July 17, 1997, p. 1
⁵ The Georgian word used here, motkhovnit, means more than a request, but less than a demand or ukaz. However, it does connote compulsion.
⁶ Very revealing is the fact that this booklet actually bears the label: “Publication of the Moscow Patriarchate — 1983”!
The Georgian word used here, motkhovnit, means more than a request, but less than a demand or ukaz. However, it does connote compulsion.
⁷ It is noteworthy that for the Orthodox Christians this was the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord in the Temple, and the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee!
⁸ For a better idea of how appropriate is this comparison to the infamous Nikodim, see the article “On the Death of a Soviet Bishop”, in Orthodox Christian Witness, Vol. 12, No. 10, 1978, pp. 1-8.
⁹ Note the order in which his titles are given here!
¹⁰ Tolerance that is, for everyone but the true Orthodox Christians who are zealous for the Faith!
¹¹ ITAR-TASS News Agency, December 23, 1997.
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