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Newsflash Archives > Gorbachev Dispels "Closet Christian" Rumors; Says He is Atheist
Inside the Vatican is following up on our previous report about the faith of Mikhail Gorbachev with this latest update which quotes him at a recent press conference in Moscow...
[See Dr. Moynihan's comments at the bottom of this article!]
Gorbachev Dispels "Closet Christian" Rumors; Says He is Atheist
Mon, Mar. 24, 2008 Posted: 17:21:31 PM EST
By Ethan Cole, Christian Post Reporter
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made clear this past weekend that he is an atheist after European news agencies last week claimed that he had confirmed his Christian faith during a visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.
Gorbachev, the last communist leader of the Soviet Union, confronted speculations that he had been a closeted Christian during an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax.
"Over the last few days some media have been disseminating fantasies -- I can't use any other word -- about my secret Catholicism, citing my visit to the Sacro Convento friary, where the remains of St. Francis of Assisi lie," Gorbachev said, according to an Interfax article posted Friday.
"To sum up and avoid any misunderstandings, let me say that I have been and remain an atheist," he stated.
Rumors for decades had circulated that Gorbachev was a Christian after he moved to loosen restrictions on religious worship and expressed to a party congress a year before the communist state dissolved that "spiritual rebirth is as essential to society as oxygen," according to the Chicago Tribune.
As a result, media agencies had jumped to conclusions when Gorbachev visited St. Francis’ tomb last Wednesday and was seen kneeling for half an hour in silence at the tomb.
But Gorbachev, who was baptized Russian Orthodox as a child, explained that his visit to the tomb was as a tourist and not a pilgrim. He acknowledged the important role religion plays in society and said he looks forward to visiting Orthodox churches in Russia, Catholic and Protestant churches in the United States and Europe, synagogues in Israel and mosques in the Arab world, according to Interfax.
"But all these years, it has never occurred to anyone to list me among followers of any faith on that basis," Gorbachev noted.
Back in Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church seemed unimpressed with Gorbachev’s visit to St. Francis’ tomb.
"In Italy, he spoke in emotional terms, rather than in terms of faith," a spokesman for the Russian Orthodox patriarch Alexei II told the Russian media.
"He is still on his way to Christianity. If he arrives, we will welcome him."
Editor's note: Perhaps Gorbachev is, and wants to remain, a closet Christian. Ambassador Thomas Melady, former US Ambassador to the Vatican, at an "Inside the Vatican" dinner in Washington D.C. in December, told others at his table that he found out in about 1990 that Gorbachev had been secretly meeting with John Paul II for 2 years leading up to the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism. The White House had sent Melady to Rome to find out why Gorbachev, on his way to meet with Reagan, was stopping first in Rome. That is when Amb. Melady first learned of this, and he said he credits John Paul II with helping to bring about the democratization of Russia.
Now, if Gorbachev is an atheist, why would he consult with John Paul II above many others?
And why did he recently kneel at the tomb of St. Francis, rather than stand and take photos as a non-pilgrim, tourist would do?
Things just don’t add up.
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Inside The Vatican (ISSN 1068-8579) is a Catholic news magazine, published monthly except July
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