Alexey Navalny...Christian?

 

Alexey Navalny by Fr. William Hart McNichols, priest and iconographer.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 

 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

                      Matthew 5: 10-12 NRSVue 

When I mused about whether Alexey Navalny might be considered a martyr last week I assumed he wasn't a religious person. Since then there have a number of reports that he embraced Christianity during his convalescence in Germany after almost dying from poisoning. And that he spoke of his faith during the kangaroo court trail that led to his incarceration and death. Here are a couple of paragraphs purported to be from his address to the judge in the trial, including a verse from the Beatitudes in Jesus's Sermon on the Mount: 

“Your Honour, do you want me to talk to you about God and salvation?” Navalny said. “The fact is that I am a religious person… I was quite a militant (atheist) myself. But now I am a believer, and it helps me a lot in my work.”

“And it is said, ‘Blessed are those who thirst and hunger for righteousness, for they shall be filled’. I’ve always perceived this particular commandment as more or less an instruction for activity. And so, certainly not very much enjoying the place where I am, nevertheless, I don’t have any regrets about being back, about what I’m doing… I did not betray the commandment.”

Is this conversion story true, and his testimony during the trial? Does it change Navalny's importancem his prophetic voice,  in challenging the evil Russian regime? I hope that a new-found Christian faith gave comfort to Alexey Navalny in the dark moments of his imprisonment, and to his family. 

A flower and a picture are left as a tribute to Russian politician Alexei Navalny, near to the Russian Embassy in London, Feb. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)