Russian Communist leader believes Russian Church representative's appeal to denounce the Communist regime is a provocation

10 July 2008, 16:34

Moscow, July 10, Interfax - The Russian Orthodox Church representative's appeal to condemn the Communist regime has a provocative character and is dangerous for the society, communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said.

"Re-writing history is unworthy affair, especially for a man who serves God," the Communist leader is quoted as saying by the Communist Party website.

Acting secretary for Church and society relations of the Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations Fr. Georgy Ryabykh earlier told an Interfax-Religion correspondent that the present authorities should denounce the communist regime, both in word and practice."

The denouncement of communism has begun in 1990s, but we failed to see it through," he noted.

According to the priest, we need to continue denouncing communism today: "We have to honour memory of repression victims and their fortitude, open memorials, return cities and streets their original names, take Soviet symbols away from public buildings, remove monuments to bloody leaders from the central squares of Russian cities and the cemetery from the Kremlin wall."

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