OK, this is most odd. GA Zyuganov, chairman of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, sent out an Easter greeting to the whole nation. This sort of thing – a merger between Communism and the Russian Orthodox religion has been going on for some now since 1991. I personally think it was very smart of the CP to make peace with the Church and even to become one with the Church in a sense. The church leaders for their part now generally preach an anti-West, pro-solidarity, Leftist communal message. So much for Godless Communism eh!
You can also see that Zyuganov is playing into Great Russian nationalism just as Stalin did.
Let us all this a Red-White mixture, a merger between the White cross and the red banner. This sort of thing has been going on in Latin America for some time. The Sandinistas, the FMLN in El Salvador, Father Aristide’s Lavalas in Haiti and Hugo Chavez’ Bolivarians are all Catholics. Believers are now allowed to join the Cuban Communist Party. The leader of the Colombian guerrilla ELN was a priest with a machine gun, Camilo Torres. Much of this flowed out of the Liberation Theology movement that started in Latin America.
A merger of Communism/socialism and Christianity – who would have thunk it?
I give you my most sincere greetings on the Bright Feast of Easter; I wish you the most vibrant spiritual joy, the enjoyment of all good things, and domestic happiness.
The ancients said that symbols and images rule the world. In these Easter holidays, special images shine over Russia. Not only the traditional ones of Resurrection as revival… today, we celebrate the return of Chersonesos and we celebrate the 700th anniversary of the birth of St Sergei of Radonezh. The first saw the beginning of the Orthodox civilisation, the Russian World. The second saw the Great Russian ethnos emerge as a united people stretching from the Baltic to the Pacific, from the White Sea to the Black Sea.
V O Klyuchevsky wrote, referring to the view of St Sergei of Radonezh, “Our people attended to their moral revival, this made possible the revival of the political”. This moral revival allowed our ancestors to start the awakening of the Russian people from darkness, from humiliation by their enemies and by their own stupid rivalries.
St Sergei’s spiritual encouragement inspired the soldiers on the Kulikovo Field to bring forth a great podvig of arms, which laid a foundation for the Great Russian ethnos, one of the branches of an ancient tree, the root of which engendered three fraternal Slavic peoples. Our three East Slavic peoples share a common destiny and a common past.
One of the turning points was the Baptism of Rus, but we must remember that the famous event in Chersonesos preceded it… the conversion to Orthodoxy of Grand Prince St Vladimir the Red Sun. Today, our eyes now turn to fiery Chersonesos, to its current residents, the heirs of Russian glory and pride, now reunited with Russia, now living as one yet again.
Today, during the bright feast of the Resurrection, our thoughts are with our Ukrainian brothers, who hope to see a sign from the powers-that-be, who hope for a victory of light over darkness. We’re shoulder to shoulder with fraternal Belarus. We’re with you, our brothers and comrades. St Sergei taught us that only love and unity will saved us. That’s how we saved ourselves and saved the world from the “brown plague” seven decades ago.
Contrary to the vapourings from the West about “the end of history”, recent events show that the historical process continues and that it still progresses towards the good and to good-will. However, this will only happen if its true creator… the people… preserves its historical memory and its true ideals.
I give you my most sincere greetings on the Bright Feast of Christ’s Easter; I wish all of you the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Epistle of St Paul to the Ephesians 4.3) during these happy days. I wish you love and unity, for if we preserve an undying commitment to the ideals of good and justice, then, a public and political revival will be possible!
To the Bright Paschal Feast, dear friends!
Christ is Risen!Gennady Zyuganov
Head of the KPRF faction in the RF Gosduma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation
Chairman of the Central Committee of the KPRF
