Moscow patriarch discourages accounting for Communist oppression

Moscow, Jun. 24, 2008 (CWNews.com) - The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has cautioned against any political movement aimed at assigning responsibility for the persecutions of the Communist era.

“The Church keeps the prayerful memory of all the faithful who became victims of the godless government’s policy,” Patriarch Alexei II told a meeting of the Russian bishops’ synod. He acknowledged that Communist repression caused the deaths of millions of innocent people, under a regime that was anti-religious and anti-human.

However, the Patriarch continued, “The memory of the victims must not be cause of political speculations.” He discouraged the sort of efforts that have been undertaken in some formerly Communist countries, such as Poland, to make a full accounting of the people who cooperated in Communist repression.

The Russian Orthodox Church has been embarrassed in the past by revelations that some prelates were cooperating with the Communist regime.

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