Russian Church advises Lenin advocates think about burying him

Moscow, October 29, Interfax – The body of Vladimir Lenin, the mastermind of the Great October Socialist Revolution, which lies still in the Mausoleum on the Red Square, should sooner or later be buried, the Synodal Department for External Church Relations’ head Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin said.

“Debates on this issue will certainly continue. Probably, some harsh movements may cause rejections in public opinion, but one may and should discuss this subject keeping in mind that a Christian burial does not suggest exhibiting a dead body for many years,” the priest told a news conference at Interfax.

Lenin’s body has turned into a tourist attraction, he said. “If I were Lenin’s descendant and a person who worship Mr. Ulyanov [Lenin’s real last name], I would think about whether it is humanistic to exhibit the body,” he said.