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His Holiness and Beatitude '''Catholicos-Patriarch of All
Georgia''' is the head of the
Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. The Catholicos-Patriarch is also
Archbishop of
Mtskheta and
Tbilisi and head of the
Holy Synod. His Holiness and Beatitude
Ilia II has been Catholicos-Patriarch since
1977.
Catholicos-Patriarch has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since
1010. The first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia was
Melkisedek I (
1010-
1033). In the
15th century the Georgian Orthodox Church was divided into the East and the West parts and accordingly they were ruled by the Catholicos-Patriarch of East Georgia and the Catholicos-Patriarch of West Georgia.
In
1801 the
Kartlian-Kakhetian Kingdom (Eastern Georgia) was occupied and annexed by the Tsarist
Russian Empire. In
1811, the
Autocephalous status (independence) of the Georgian Church was abolished by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church took over its administration.
In
1917 the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was restored. The first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia since the restoration of autocephaly was His Holiness and Beatitude
Kirion II (
1917-
1918).
