The speech of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II delivered at the World Political Forum conference, “Human Rights and Democracy in a Globalized World”
Bosco Marengo, 6-7 November 2008

Your Excellency, Mr President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a true joy and great privilege to greet you cordially on behalf of the Church of Georgia and in person. I would like to greet you on behalf of a country and people who have a history that counts more than 3000 years of statehood and 2000 years of Christian practice. Georgia is a small yet multinational country and I could say that persecution on religious or ethnic grounds has never taken place in Georgia. This was first of all conditioned by the loving nature of our people, as well as certainly by the Christian Faith which is confessed by the majority of the population of Georgia. I am emphasizing this particular point on account of the fact that following the events that developed in our country in August, some people have been trying to present us as aggressors while in reality it is ethnic Georgian population who were banished from the Tskhinvali Region, and were robbed and scattered. Internally displaced persons from Abkhazia have been living in the same condition for seventeen years and unfortunately, no efficient steps were taken to create security guarantees for them and ensure their return.
I do believe it is necessary to recall the recent past of our country in order to be able to make a correct assessment of the current situation.
However, I would like to note in advance that I am not a politician and naturally my assessments may differ from yours, yet religious leaders who represent an absolute majority of the population of the country, are not only spiritual representatives of their people but they carry a certain political weight too; It is for this reason that I address you, the participants of the forum and all the people who are now watching this forum and share my ideas and my concerns.
In the 20s of the XX century, when the Communists invaded independent Georgia, they distributed some parts of our territories among the neighbouring states and without any historical or legal grounds they created the autonomous republics of Ajara, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in the remaining parts. By doing so they planted the time-bombs that were to go off as soon as the occasion arose. Now the time has come.
Even though the Soviet Union no longer exists, the ideology and fabricated history that was being instilled in the minds of residents of the abovementioned regions for 70 years, as well as for over 100 years of the Tsarist rule before that, was directed towards the partition of our country. Now the same ideology disposes the residents of the so-called South Ossetia (Tskhinvali Region) and Abkhazia against Georgia, thereby creating an illusion that they were liberated from the invading Georgian state.
In reality, these regions are ancient Georgian lands just as, for example, Novgorod, Suzdal or Smolensk are for the Russians…Besides, majority of the population in these parts of Georgia have always been ethnic Georgians.
We need the West's support to confront the anti-Georgian propaganda. If we succeed in this, I am convinced that the attitude of these ethnic minorities towards Georgia will change radically because they, as well as other ethnicities living here, have enjoyed wonderful conditions for their own development within Georgia.
Abkhaz- and Ossetian-language universities and other institutions of higher education, schools and theatres, as well as newspapers and magazines operated both in Abkhazia and South Ossetia… That is to say, they enjoyed full autonomies and achieved considerable success too (by comparison, Ossetians living in the Russian Federation’s North Ossetia did not enjoy the same favourable conditions).
Indeed, the current confrontation is not a Georgian-Ossetian or Georgian-Abkhaz ethnic conflict. That this is true is well manifested by the fact that both during the hostilities and today ethnic Ossetians living in great numbers in various towns and villages of Georgia have not left their homes. Nor have they experienced any problems communicating with the Georgians. The same is true about the Abkhaz and what happened in August was conditioned by our country's desire to restore its territorial integrity.
I am not saying that mistakes, serious mistakes were not made on our part. However, it is also natural that Georgia, as any other country in the world, would not reconcile itself with losing its own territories.
The Georgian people and the Church of Georgia are grateful to the international community who have demonstrated solidarity with us and did not support the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and the so-called South Ossetia. However, I would also like to emphasize here that any country that supports Georgia's territorial integrity, thereby is defending at the same time its borders and peace in general because the reasons that were employed for recognizing the independence of these so called autonomies ( the history invented on the basis of political pressure or its unjustified legal status), is devoid of any grounds and is bound to create serious problems for any country, including Russia itself. It will fuel separatism, a centrifugal force that will destroy any country. It is an attempt to legalize ethnic cleansing and it should not be sanctioned. Besides, it is absolutely illogical to fight against separatism in one’s own country and at the same time to encourage it in another. Double standards are unacceptable and destructive.
Georgia will always strive to reclaim its territories.
I categorically rule out violent methods for attaining these ends. Both before the conflict and now, our Church had opposed and still opposes bloodshed and we have said this more than once. I believe diplomatic (especially public diplomacy), economic, cultural, religious and other means will make it possible to repair the broken bridge between Georgia and Russia.
The country that gave to the world St Sergius of Radonezh, Optina Elders, great hierarchs, martyrs, famous philosophers and writers, is culturally close to us.
What has happened, should not have happened. We could have chosen another path in our relations. Now a serious crack and distrust has appeared in Russian-Georgian relations. The wall that was erected is difficult to demolish but it is necessary that we do so.
We should help each other in restoring Georgia's territorial integrity.
Well-known politicians are saying that he, who possesses Eurasia, possesses the world. I believe other regions too, including the Caucasus, have a great importance for the world. It is owing to this fact that the interests of great countries converge here and everybody is trying to transform it into their sphere of influence. At the same time, each of them is proposing to us a position that is favourable to them yet fails to take into account the interests of the local population. Consequently, an attempt to partition the country into spheres of influence is evident, which, let me reiterate, poses a threat not only to Georgia.
Indeed, the recent war demonstrated that using violent methods could serve as a cause of confrontation in the world and is causing global problems. Therefore, I believe it is important that all of us should seek together peaceful ways of conflict resolutions. For our part we are ready to take appropriate steps. The fact that the delegation of the Georgian Church on 5 November will meet with the head of the Church of Russia and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Department of the Moscow Patriarchate is a clear evidence of this.
I do not know what the outcome is going to be like but it is a fact that despite the difficult situation, our Orthodox Churches managed to preserve good relations and I hope it will be further strengthened in the future.
We wish to maintain friendly relations with everybody and we want our country, as well as the whole Caucasus, to turn into an arena of cooperation rather than the one of confrontation. However, peace without justice cannot prevail.
It is said in the bible: "Strive for the truth unto death and the Lord shall fight for you". (Sirach, 4; 28)
May God empower us to walk on the path of truth.
Once again I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the organizers and participants of this very important conference and wish you continued success for your kind efforts and care for a peaceful world.