44 years pass since the enthronement of the Patriarch

December 25 is the day of the enthronement of the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II.

The enthronement of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia took place on December 25, 1977 in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. He was named Ilia II.

At the time of the Patriarch's enthronement, there were 15 dioceses and more than 30 functioning churches in Georgia. There are a total of 46 dioceses today. The number of temples, monasteries, monks and clergy increased. Today, there are about 2,000 functioning churches-monasteries in Georgia and the number of clergy-monks amounts to about 3,000.