Dialogue builds a Ukrainian church and state, - President at the presentation of the book by Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sviatoslav Shevchuk

President Petro Poroshenko visited the presentation of the book "Dialogue Heals Wounds" by Primate of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

"Dialogue not only heals wounds. I think that there will be a second book, what else the dialogue does. I'm not going to impose my point of view, but it definitely builds. To my deep conviction, it builds a Ukrainian church and state," the Head of State emphasized.

The President recalled that he had attended the presentation of the book of the Primate of the UGCC in Lviv: "I have read your book. And I agree with most of these events. I want to appeal to everyone - you should understand what historical mission has fallen on the shoulders of each of us".

Petro Poroshenko congratulated those present on Christmas holidays. "On these days, the Lord sends us hope and faith that everything will be well. And this year, he sent us not only hope, but a great gift of God. It is said that this is the restoration of justice. This is the case," the Head of State remarked. He added that the creation of a single Orthodox Church of Ukraine was made possible due to the unification of efforts of the hierarchs of churches, state authorities and also through the faith and prayer of thousands of Ukrainian believers who have been waiting for church unification for years.

The President stressed that it is necessary to pray and fight for the Ukrainian church and unity. "Pray and fight - then we are capable of confronting Moscow. Pray and fight to be together. Through dialogue. Because wounds inside the country must be treated through dialogues. And I strongly urge everyone to carefully read the book of His Beatitude Sviatoslav,” Petro Poroshenko said.

"Now, with our joint efforts, including the efforts of our primates, we are breaking ourselves free from this Soviet empire. We are trying to get rid of the colonial status of the Russian Empire. And we succeed. And we are making tremendous success. And the church is just a sign of God," the President said.

He also stressed the importance of state participation in the process of obtaining the Tomos of autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine: "For this is a state affair. This is called state building. This spiritual foundation of our independence is no less important than the State Independence Act of 1991".

"Look at how the fact of the church creation has united us all. I congratulate you on this, because these are the conclusions and the lessons we learned well from the events that took place 100 years ago," Petro Poroshenko said.