On August 8, 2009, during a sermon after a service for the August war victims Catholic Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II warned all Abkhazians and Ossets that, if they lose Georgia, “time may soon come when Abkhazia and Tkhinval will remain where they are, but they [Abkhazians and Ossets] will not be there.”

According to him, the Georgian nation will not allow “Georgia’s territorial integrity to be destroyed”. He expressed hope that “Russian authorities will display wisdom and prudence, and the conflicts will be settled peacefully”.

“We have great respect for Russia and Russians. We highly appreciate their culture and spirituality, but I would like to tell them we will not allow Georgia’s territorial integrity to be destroyed and we are united in this,” Patriarch Ilya II stated at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi.