The figure of Stalin continues to stir
controversy in Russia, where the bloodthirsty dictator has left behind
him a confusing tangle of veneration and rejection.
Icons of the Red
Tsar are still present throughout the country and rumours that some see
him as a saint.
The latest in a series of sacred representation of the
"little father" has appeared in Moscow in the church of Saint Nicholas
(Starovagankovsky lane): the icon depicts the life of Matriona, the
blind saint, in an alleged meeting between her and Joseph Stalin.
The
Soviet dictator is not depicted in a religious manner, but he is placed
next to the famous ascetic.
An aspect that makes the story even more
grotesque, is that Matriona (1885-1952) was forced to live in hiding to
avoid arrest by communist regime.
According to a legend, which was
rejected by the Orthodox Church, Stalin visited Matriona in 1941, who
predicted victory over the Nazis.
In July of that year he is said to
have addressed the nation on radio using the traditional greeting of the
Orthodox Church "brothers and sisters". Almost a sign of his change of
attitude towards Christianity.
A church is a strange place to find Stalin, who, despite his
education at a seminary in Georgia, was responsible for a brutal
religious repression in the USSR.
The author of the icon ins unknown but according to the priest in
charge of churches in the district Fr. Vladimir, "is likely to have been
donated to the parish."
The small church of Saint Nicholas is not the only one to exhibit the
image of Stalin next to the icon of a proclaimed saint, like Matriona.
In the winter of 2008 the story of Fr.Yevstafy Zhakov, pastor of St.
Olga Strel'na near St. Petersburg caused uproar after he hung a portrait
of the dictator among other sacred images.
"I remember him on
appropriate occasions - the priest had declared- the day of his birthday, his death and that of Victory (World War II, ed.) He was a true believer”.
Among Russians there are even those who call for his beatification,
but the Orthodox Church is in firm in its niet.
"Some consider him a
monster and a murderer – says Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, Director of
External Relations of the Patriarchate of Moscow - for others it was as
if he were a zealous orthodox."
The positions of the church hierarchy
are clear: "He never even had a moment of repentance," says Chaplin. A
few weeks after the controversy, the Patriarchate of Moscow forced Fr.
Yevstafy to remove the controversial icon from his parish.
Meanwhile, however, outside the church of St. Olga, and in various
cities across the country holy cards are still distributed that depict
the bloody politician with a halo for those who already consider Stalin
a saint.
SIC: AN/INT'L