Why do they still have high altars in St Peters Basilica? They never use them. Why do they have altar rails in many Cathedrals? They never use them.
Communists still have a party over there and thus, get far more use out of communist founders and symbolism than VII Catholics get from altar rails. The rails do have an aesthetic quality beside their functionality, which is more than I can say for the hideous mugs of Marx, Lenin, Stalin or the various symbols left over from the Soviet regime.
I don't know anyone, other than tourists, who have gone to see Lenin's body. I know 100s of Muscovites and none of them have ever been there. Neither have I.
Doesn't matter how many visitors he gets, Lenin is one of the strongest communist symbols in history. Why even leave it up to interpretation and kick his carcass over the Caucasus? It certainly looks like tacit approval, if not outright veneration.
I got married in Red Square. Well technically in a Church nearby but afterwards we all went to Red Square to celebrate.
Are you a convert to Catholicism then?
I think the Russians probably keep it as a reminder of their past. Much like the Vatican keep those high altars and other architectural features, they no longer need.
Very many of the hammers and sickles and other communist symbols have been taken down. In fact they were taken down in the early to mid 1990s. There are no prominent ones on display any longer, but where they are on a granite panel etc then they have not been chiselled off as the feeling is that architecture and history are important and a symbol does not contain some sort of magical power or evil.
But not all of them and as we know, all those symbols come back in force once May 9th comes around...
I don't care how beautiful a building is, if I see a swastika, it's got to go. Even more so with the Hammer and Sickle. Now we don't all have control over everything that is promoted or permitted by our respective states, but let's not make excuses for them. A symbol isn't magic but it does occasionally have the potential of carrying an indelible mark. You mean to tell me that the Hammer and Sickle represent Russia more than it does Soviet Communism? If the swastika can't be rehabilitated, the h&s doesn't have a chance!
Why not? Because Russians have a different attitude to suffering than westerners. Often rather than looking for someone to blame they blame themselves. And while all acknowledge that the 20th Century was very nasty, they don't pretend that the 19th century was all roses either. Yes communism killed lots of people but it also educated them, entertained them and in a certain sense civilised them. They view it like a drunk parent with a foul temper who beat them but also made them stand on their own two feet and learn to work. Whereas the Tsar was a sober parent who did nothing for them and just let them live in Mom's basement wasting away, unmarried, unprepared to deal with the world, unable to earn a living and scared to try.
Pride and Stockholm syndrome aside, none of it is Catholic. History might have been alot different had the Tsars converted! You might be able to shed some light on why Catholicism or even Catholic-aligned Eastern Rite is so unpopular for Russians.
It was. Had they had a smooth transition to a market economy and privatised fairly and justly and not had lots of greedy ruthless types stealing assets at the point is a gun it would have been much better. The collapse was a disaster and they are still picking up the pieces now.
They could have built a middle classes and carefully managed the transition. Encouraged people to pay taxes. Paid police, nurses, doctors fairly and not allowed Oligarchs to steal and bribe.
This comes off sounding very practical at the expense of true conversion. Food and drink are secondary to the needs of the spirit. Thugs on every political spectrum will come and go. If there is no one to say the Mass, that's when you start to worry! Russia might be eating better now, but they are as much of a desert as the next country without the true faith. The disaster of the "fall" of communism was nothing compared to it's establishment. Not just for Russia, but for the entire world. If it was a greater disaster, it's only because the Catholic population declined and never recovered.
Likewise, in America, the time of the robber barons was a geopolitical disaster because it created an all powerful political class and a ruthless crony capitalism.
I'm speaking as a Catholic, one who values that affiliation above everything else. Though I admit to being biased for my home country, I also recognize that the US won't be able to effect any lasting positive change until it becomes a Catholic nation as well. Of course the old gilded age was garbage, but now our new gilded age has piled up all the combined errors of modern man which no country is exempt from. It's our very own New World Disorder.
Cultural differences aside, all I care about is the plight of the true Church. The only reason I'm making an exception for Russia is that Our Lady made it known to the world first. I believe Russia will do incredible things and possibly be one of the greatest Catholic nations the Church has ever known, but only after its consecration.
Topic: Did Putin ask Pope Francis to consecrate Russia? (Read 15424 times)