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[[Image:Ilia II patrGa.jpg|right|thumb|300px|Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia]]
'''Ilia II''' (also transliterated as '''Ilya ''' or '''Elijah'''; Georgian: ილია II) is the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia and the spiritual leader of the [[Church of Georgia]]. He is officially styled as ''His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia''.
==Life==
After finishing his lower education, Irakli chose a theological career. He attended and graduated from the [[Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary|Moscow Theological Seminary]]. After having been [[tonsure]]d a [[monk]], with the name Ilia, he was [[ordination|ordained]] a [[hierodeacon]] in 1957 and then a [[hieromonk]] in 1959. He continued his theological education at the [[Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary|Moscow Theological Academy]], graduating in 1960. After his graduation Fr. Ilia returned to Georgia where he was assigned as a [[priest]] to the Batumi Cathedral Church. In 1961, he was elevated to [[hegumen]] and later to [[archimandrite]]. On [[August 26]], 1963, he was [[consecration of a bishop|consecrated]] [[bishop]] of Batumi and Shemokmedi and was appointed a patriarchal [[vicar]]. In 1963, he was assigned as the first [[rector]] of the Mtskheta Theological Seminary, a position he held until 1972. The Mtskheta seminary was the only theological school in Georgia at that time.
In 1967, Arch. Ilia was elected bishop of Tskhumi and Abkhazeti, and in 1969, was awarded the title of [[metropolitan]]. After the [[deposition]] of the controversial Patriarch [[David V (Devdariani) of Georgia|David V]], he was elected the Catholico-Patriarch of Georgia on [[December 25]], 1977. After becoming the first hierarch, Patr. Ilia began implementation of reforms that enabled the Church of Georgia to regain much of its former influence and prestige, attributes that it had before it was suppressed by the Soviet Union. By 1988, the number of [[priest]]s in the Church of Georgia grew to 180, with a monastic community of 40 [[monk]]s, and 15 [[nun]]s. The community of faithful was variously estimated as being between one and three million. There also were 200 churches, a seminary, and seven monasteries (three female and four male). During the 1980s, Patr. Ilia actively engaged himself in the social life of Georgia. He participated on [[April 9]], 1989 with the Georgian people in demonstrations in Tbilisi against the Soviet rule. As these demonstrations became heated, Patr. Ilia unsuccessfully urged the protesters to withdraw to the nearby Kashueti Church to avoid the bloodshed. This peaceful demonstration, however, was dispersed by the Soviet troops, who left behind 22 dead and hundreds injured. In the early 1990s as the Soviet Union was falling apart, he called on the rival political parties within Georgia to find a peaceful solution to the internal crisis during the civil war that broke out in Georgia.
==Patriarchate==
As patriarch, he received high Church honors from the Patriarchs of the Churches of [[Church of Antioch|Antioch]], [[Church of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]], [[Church of Alexandria|Alexandria]], [[Church of Russia|Russia]], [[Church of Greece|Greece]], [[Church of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]], [[Church of Romania|Romania]], and other Orthodox Churches.
Recognizing his work as a theologian and church historian, the [[St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary (Crestwood, New York)|St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in New York (in 1986), the Academy of Sciences in Crete (in 1997) and the [[St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary (South Canaan, Pennsylvania)|St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary]] in Pennsylvania (in 1998) conferred on him Honorary Doctorates of Theology.
Patr. Ilia II is an Honorary Academician of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (in 2003) and of the International Academy for the Promotion of Scientific Research (in 2007).
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{{succession|
before=[[David V (Devdariani) of Georgia|David V (Devdariani)]]|title=[[List of Catholicoses of Georgia|Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia]]|
years= 1977— |
after=—}}
[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:20th-21st-century bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Batumi]]
[[Category:Bishops of Tskhumi]]
[[Category:Catholicos-Patriarchs of Georgia]]
[[Category:Moscow Academy and Seminary Graduates]]
