Time Immortal

Yes, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union.

Accompanied by his daughter Irina, Mr Gorbachev spent half an hour on his knees in silent prayer at the tomb [of St Francis of Assisi].

His arrival in Assisi was described as “spiritual perestroika” by La Stampa, the Italian newspaper.

“St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ,” said Mr Gorbachev. “His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life,” he added.

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.

Mr Gorbachev, 77, was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church and his parents were Christians.

In addition, the parents of his wife Raisa were deeply religious and were killed during the Second World War for having religious icons in their home.

Too cool for words, although I suppose, in looking again at the life of Pope John Paul II, one should always have known that Christianity would be the downfall of Lenin’s atheistic empire.

Think about that, O Reader: Gorbachev was forced to profess atheism in his role as the leader of the Soviet Union. And yet, apparently, it is unfair, then, to lay blame for the millions of deaths caused by Soviet Communism at the feet of atheism? That’s what former commentator Robert, an atheist, always used to tell me, at any rate.

Update: The Anchoress picks apart some of the absurdities in the way the British press is reporting on this. As usual, where Christianity is concerned, they have numerous facts wrong.