Gorbachev Christian Upbringing Changed Russia

Russia had been a militant atheistic country since the time of Stalin until the days of Gorbachev.  Religious expression and practice were repressed as well as persecuted.  The militant atheists who made up the government relied on propaganda to attack the foundations of faith and especially the Russian Orthodox Church.  The Russian Orthodox Church had seen their churches fall from 22,000 to 7,000 forcing most of the church to go underground.

In the 1980’s, Gorbachev came to power and introduced a reform that is referred to as Glasnost.  Glasnost brought about the end of the Soviet Union as the press exposed the corruption of communism and the truth about the West.  Glasnost also allowed for freedom of religion which gave the church an opportunity to step into the public again.

Ronald Reagan according to Michael Reagan suspected that Gorbachev was a closet Christian.  Reagan and Gorbachev had developed a relationship of mutual respect over a period of time allowing Reagan to see into the life of the leader of Russia.  During a visit from Gorbachev, Michael Reagan, Ronald Reagan’s son, had the opportunity to discuss the Christian faith with Gorbachev.

Michael Reagan recalled in 2008,

Dad had long suspected Gorbachev of being a "closet Christian." I was intrigued by the possibility that the former Soviet leader might secretly be a man of faith.  So, during our town hall encounters, I questioned Gorbachev about his views on God.

He told me that his late wife's grandparents were killed during the Stalinist purges for having religious icons in their home. He also recalled that his own grandparents kept Christian icons hidden behind pictures of Lenin and Stalin.

Because of Soviet hostility to religion, Mikhail Gorbachev professed to be an atheist in order to rise in the Communist Party. I wondered what kind of tension this created inside Gorbachev—a man raised with a Christian heritage, yet determined to be a good Communist.

At several town hall events, I asked, "Mr. Gorbachev, when my father would meet with you, he would always pray to God for guidance. Who did you look to for guidance during those meetings?"

At that point the conversation was broken due to an interruption; however, the question was later poised to Mr. Gorbachev at a later time and here was his response.

"Michael," he said, "my grandmother was a Christian woman. She would go to church every day. Then, after church, she would come visit me and say, 'Mikhail, I went to church today and I prayed for the atheist. I prayed for you.'"

Gorbachev made a surprised visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Rome.  The words of Gorbachev seemed to imply that he was in fact a Christian which he later had to deny; however, at that time this is what he said. 

Gorbachev told reporters that the story of St. Francis had played a pivotal role in his life. "It was through St. Francis that I arrived at the Church," he said, "so it was important that I came to visit his tomb."