Admits, huh?
I wonder if that word choice is supposed to be significant. As in, The Telegraph has suspected it for quite a while and now, finally, Mikhail owns up to the error of his ways. (Or something like that.)
Whatever the case, here are some excerpts from their story:
| Mikhail Gorbachev admits he is a Christian
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. […] 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. |
Oh, is that what he thinks makes him a Christian?!
Here’s a bit more from the story:
| Ronald Reagan, the former United States president, allegedly told his close aides on a number of occasions that he felt his opponent during the Cold War was a “closet believer”.
Mr Reagan held deep religious convictions himself. However, until now Mr Gorbachev has allowed himself to express only pantheistic views, saying in one interview “nature is my god”. |
Well, that sounds very suspect to me.
Mr. Gorbachev, what makes you a Christian?