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 (1010–1030). 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 Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti (Eastern Georgia) was occupied and annexed by the Tsarist Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

. In 1811, the Autocephalous status (independence) of the Georgian Church was abolished by Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church

Russian Orthodox Church

The Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...

 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 Kyrion II Sadzaglishvili (1917–1918).

The incumbent Catholicos-Patriarch of the church is Patriarch Ilia II of Georgia since 1977

See also

• Catholicos
  Catholicos
  Catholicos, plural Catholicoi, is a title used for the head of certain churches in some Eastern Christian traditions. The title implies autocephaly and in some cases is borne by the designated head of an autonomous church, in which case the holder might have other titles such as Patriarch...
  
  
• Patriarchs
• List of Catholicoi-Patriarchs of All Georgia
• Catholicate of Abkhazia
  Catholicate of Abkhazia
  The Catholicate of Abkhazia was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by the Catholicos of Abkhazia, officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch of Imereti, Odishi, Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria,...