His Beatitude Sviatoslav appealed to President Yanukovych , "Take personal control over the security forces of the country"

"Mr. President , take personal control over the security forces of our country. For each violent step generates a new wave of violence "- His Beatitude asked Viktor Yanukovych.

" On behalf of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, I would like to say a sharp " no "to any kind of violence. And today whoever comes out with radical calls for violence no matter whether he is under the banner of the party , whether he is in the priestly robe or the uniform he is  a provocateur. I think today the will of the people is not to listen to such people and defend themselves. We must do everything in order to control the violence in the country ", - stressed the Head .

He said that we can come to an agreement only by means of a dialogue, for a dialogue is the only alternative to violence. "Only a dialogue can save us from that precipice , on the brink of which we stand. Only a dialogue will enable us to process the general public and national project  on overcoming crisis,  which we find ourselves in , "- said His Beatitude Svyatolav .

The patriarch recalled that " rays of hope for a dialogue " were seen earlier this week , however , he said , on the night of 11 December, all those rays were destroyed.

"I sincerely hope that there will not be any more of such hasty steps," - said the Head of the Church ,while they were looking into each other's eyes.

He expressed his regret that today our society " is divided with disbelief ": " We can see that while the distrust is growing the barricades are growing on the Square too. People do not trust, they fear. We will destroy barricades , and they will grow even bigger. Therefore, in my opinion ( that is the position of all the religious environment ), we have to do everything to prevent the escalation of violence. After all, where “guns are talking  - muses are silent and a dialogue is not expected.

The Primate also mentioned the youth and students , " This is the Ukraine , which now has a European face. They were born in the independent Ukrainian state. They first came to IndependenceSquare, referring to the European face of Ukraine . I think that the voice of young people should be critical for everyone who accepts political or economic solution today. Today young people tell us that the alternative future besides European independent Ukraine has not got"- said  the Head of the Church .

He asked all those, who it depends on, not to put pressure on the Ukrainian students.

"We have , unfortunately , different signals, even in our Catholic university, that the students are prosecuted. Students are called up from the Security Service. This is one of the ways of pressure on them. I am asking : Stop any kind of violence. Hopefully then we will pacify our people. Our youth will be heard, and together we are able to get out of this crisis, " – said the Head of the Church.

 UGCC Department of Information