The Patriarchate of Georgia reports that on May 17, a telephone conversation took place between the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Shio III and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, who invited the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church to visit Constantinople in the near future.
“On the evening of May 17, 2026, a warm and brotherly telephone conversation took place between His Holiness and Beatitude Shio III, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi, and Metropolitan of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, and His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
The Ecumenical Patriarch cordially congratulated His Holiness on his enthronement as the head of the Georgian Orthodox Apostolic Church and wished him a fruitful, peaceful, and long service for the benefit of strengthening the church, Georgia, and the Georgian people.
In turn, Catholicos-Patriarch Shio III thanked the Ecumenical Patriarch for his sincere congratulations and well wishes.
At the conclusion of the conversation, the Ecumenical Patriarch invited the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia to visit Constantinople in the near future,” the statement reads.