Byrnesys Blabberings

UPDATE: CT Reports Gorbachev openly denies faith and confirms his atheism while the Russian Orthodox Church says "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."

It transpires that the ex-communist russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev has publicly announced that he is a Christian citing St. Francis as one of his main interests that brought him to church.

Ben Witherington flagged this story as an easter miracle commenting:

"I’ll believe Jesus rose from the dead," said the angry Communist, " when the atheist leader of the Soviet Union becomes a Christian." These remarks, of course were typical during the years of the Soviet Empire and the Iron Curtain. Teenagers in America today hardly realize what a remarkable change has happened in Russia since the early 90s. Indeed it is nothing short of miraculous, and I have had the privilege of observing this first hand while teaching from time to time in Moscow.

The telegraph reports: 

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union, has acknowledged his Christian faith for the first time, paying a surprise visit to pray at the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.

Accompanied by his daughter Irina, Mr Gorbachev spent half an hour on his knees in silent prayer at the tomb.

His arrival in Assisi was described as "spiritual perestroika" by La Stampa, the Italian newspaper…

…Mr Gorbachev’s surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light.

- Telegraph