Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, the Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, sent a congratulatory letter to the newly elected Patriarch Shio of Georgia.
In the letter, he writes:
Please accept my most heartfelt congratulations on your election to the ancient throne of the Most Holy and Blessed Patriarchs of Georgia.
In His wisdom, the Lord Jesus Christ has placed the toilsome cross of Patriarchal ministry upon Your shoulders, entrusting You with the destinies of Orthodoxy in the blessed land of ancient Iberia. The hierarchs of the Georgian Orthodox Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, recognised in you the worthy successor of the ever-memorable Most Holy and Blessed Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II: the continuator of his work; the guardian of his wise legacy; and a faithful servant of Christ (cf. Col. 1:7).
Following Your predecessor’s passing, You took on the responsibility of spreading and glorifying the word of the Lord in Georgia (cf. 2 Thess. 3:1), as well as preserving and strengthening the unity of the Holy Churches of God on the unshakable foundation of the sacred canons.
We greatly value the fact that part of your life is connected with Moscow, where you received a theological education and carried out pastoral ministry, spiritually shepherding the Georgian community. We sincerely hope that during Your Patriarchal ministry, the traditionally fraternal bilateral relations between our Churches will be strengthened and developed further — relations that have stood the test of time and remained good and trusting, even amid various adverse political circumstances.
May the Merciful God always strengthen you in your high ministry and help us to preserve the bonds of spiritual unity between our sister churches and the faithful peoples we shepherd.
With reverent love in Christ,
The Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate,
Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk
