Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev made clear this past weekend that he is an atheist after European news agencies last week claimed that he had confirmed his Christian faith during a visit to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in Italy.

Gorbachev, the last communist leader of the Soviet Union, confronted speculations that he had been a closeted Christian during an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax.

"Over the last few days some media have been disseminating fantasies – I can't use any other word – about my secret Catholicism, citing my visit to the Sacro Convento friary, where the remains of St. Francis of Assisi lie," Gorbachev said, according to an Interfax article posted Friday.

"To sum up and avoid any misunderstandings, let me say that I have been and remain an atheist,” he stated.

So I guess Mikhail won’t have to worry about not being invited to chic European tea parties after all.

carl

Well if he was so worried about misunderstandings then why kneel as if in prayer and then speak glowingly about St Francis yet forget to mention that he is still an atheist at the same time.
I honestly do not and never will understand the minds of some atheists.
Did you know that there are websites dedicated to atheistic prayer and spirituality? “Churches” where atheists gather for weekly services? Atheists who believe in God but not in the possibility of having relations or communication with him?

It just boggles the mind. Either you are an atheist and therefore reject any semblence of religion or else be a theist and embrace religion and its attendant behaviors. That will avoid any misunderstandings in the first place.