"Protopriest Serafim Gan, Chancellor of the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, on why the canonization of Joseph Stalin is categorically rejected by the Russian Church Abroad.
"Recently our Russian Church rejected the suggestion by some that we honor Tsar Ivan the Terrible—who ordered the murder of Hieromartyr Philip, Metropolitan of Moscow—who is often compared to Joseph Stalin. It is interesting to note that Professor Andreev of Oxford University, a scholar of Russian history of the 16th century, wrote in 1974 that Ivan the Terrible was responsible for over 3000 executions during his fifty-year reign. Considering the cruelty of the 16th century, which included St Bartholomew's Day Massacre and the Inquisitions, the actions of Ivan the Terrible cannot compare, let alone compare his deeds to those of Lenin and Stalin, whose hands were bloodied by tens of millions of victims of the militantly-atheist regime: guilty of collectivization, the destruction of the kulaks and the terrible persecution of the Church. This truth was loudly declared by the first and second waves of Russian emigres, who were ministered to by the Russian Church Abroad.
The Russian emigration includes not only Russians but representatives of other peoples of Russia who shared the same Russian background, considering themselves to be the loyal sons of historic Russia. Among them were those who suffered at the hands of the godless regime or were eyewitnesses who of the torture and murders, they knew the people who suffered and were persecuted, who endured the horrors of repression.
The political mission of the immigration was to bear witness to the world of the essence of the Communist regime, yet it was not purely political because this witness sprang from a moral foundation, for it exposed the immoral, anti-human and anti-religious nature of the communist state.
“The greatest social force,” wrote Metropolitan Anthony (Khrapovitsky), “is the power of inner rebirth.” And the power of inner rebirth is a prerequisite for the renaissance of our Fatherland, rebirth through lofty morality and spirituality rooted in Holy Orthodoxy.
We must always remember that this is our foundation, the glorification of our Martyrs and Confessors, and we must honor the memory of the many millions of victims of communism, not their executioners and persecutors, who far outdid Diocletian, Julian the Apostate and others.
“Memory is not ill will,” wrote Protopresbyter Alexander Kiselev in the forward of his book Their Memory Unto Ages and Ages . “Even great deeds of wickedness do not deserve revenge, as the Christian faith teaches us. But our entire immeasurable tragedy as a whole, and the individuals who participated, cannot be forgotten, for only the memory of the past will move the life of the nation forward.”
So the New Martyrs and Confessors and all the victims of Leninism and Stalinism cannot be forgotten, and the blasphemy of “canonization” of the executioners must be rejected. It is necessary to strengthen and confirm the veneration and memory of the martyrs throughout the Russian land, which was soaked first in blood, then in tears, otherwise we will simply turn away from God’s blessings and this abandon this river of Russian holiness."
http://www.russianorthodoxchurch.ws/syn ... talin.html
I would add that though no expert on the times of Diocletian or Julian, intuition says that the number of Christians killed by either Roman ruler would have been rather small. Less than Ivan the Terrible, in fact.
It seems to me that Julian the Apostate was not a bloodthirsty persecutor but used his power to swing the Empire back to paganism [perhaps to Mithraism, the religion of the army].
Anyone is free to disagree with my assertion as to the numbers. However, surely historical sources are more reliable from the 1500s than the early centuries of Christianity as far as such statistics.
Either way, any balanced observer will immediately see that there have no more wicked rulers in all of recorded history than Lenin and Stalin.
So - what will be next for the crazy adherents of Stalin-worship/ Stalin glorification ? Ditto for Lenin ??
No one in the entire world will take the Moscow Patriarchate seriously if it doesn't put immediate brakes on this insane promotion of the canonization of Stalin.
And most Orthodox Christians are savvy as far as understanding 20th century history, especially that of the horrors of Soviet Communism. So if the general public is indifferent or deceived, the Orthodox will not be by this horrifying push to elevate the worst tyrant in all of the last 2000 years !
Patriarch Nikon, the strongest and best of the Russian Patriarchs, has not even been mentioned as a candidate for glorification. Yet this appalling figure who killed not just Christians but just about everyone in sight is up for the honor.
Even Stalin's daughter Svetlana was terrified of him. What about the rest of the country ?
Just for one example, consider the thousands of the cream of Soviet generals and officer corps all liquidated in 1937 [ I am writing from memory only ] by this criminal paranoiac ?? What about all the brave New Martyrs sent to their horrible deaths, perhaps in Kolyma, perhaps earlier building the White Sea canal as slave labor ?
Won't all these be watching in shock from Above any attempt at canonization of the man who gave the orders for all to be killed ?
These are only some of the known deeds of this horrendous creature Stalin.
What about the unknown ones maybe still hidden which may come to light some day and greatly embarrass those who propelled this thoroughly appalling glorification - ??