Metropolitan Juvenaly Metroplitan Juvenaly of Krutitsy and Kolomna, hierarch in charge of the commission on canonization…Synodal Canonization Commission I am far from thinking myself entitled to evaluate the deeds of Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev as in due time the task will be done by History itself. However, on the occasion of his seventieth birthday, I would like to tell you about the two encounters with Mikhail Gorbachev that I will never forget. I was among the permanent members of the Holy Synod accompanying His Holiness Patriarch Pimen during his Kremlin meeting with Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev on April 29, 1988. At that time our Church was making preparations for the celebrations of the millennium of the Christianity in Russia. I appreciated the fact that after seventy years of persecutions suffered by the Church and the faithful, the General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee acknowledged the mistakes made in regard to the Church and the faithful in the 1930s and the following years in an open conversation with the clergy. Mikhail Gorbachev told us that plans on introduction of a law on the freedom of conscience were under way, and that the law was to reflect the interests of religious organizations. The conversation dwelt upon a series of significant issues related to the objective of ensuring normal life of the Russian Orthodox Church. The meeting opened up an opportunity for the nation-wide celebration of the thousand years of the Baptism of Rus. It set in motion the process of the Church revival. From that moment on the preparations for the celebrations contributed to the revolution in public attitudes in the then Soviet Union. People, used to state-propagated atheism, realized one day - some with joy or astonishment, some with irritation - that the Russian Orthodox Church had not only survived, but retained great spiritual power as well. Scientific and cultural workers and the community at large embraced the magnificent heritage preserved by the Church. The celebrations of the Baptism of Rus were a great event in the eyes of the whole world. The UNESCO General Assembly proclaimed this date to be a significant event in European history, and in the world history and culture as well. The second encounter is still fresh in my memory as it relates to the demise of Raisa Gorbachev and the funeral ceremony that took place on September 23, 1999. I was deeply moved by the feelings Mikhail Gorbachev showed during the telephone conversation we had discussing the possibility of holding a funeral service for Raisa Gorbachev in the Smolensky Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent. Everyone remembers how the mass media kept us informed on how careful Mikhail Gorbachev was towards his incurably ill wife, and so I felt obliged to address him preceding the funeral service and testify: "On your return to Moscow you said that you were unsure whether you had done everything you could for Raisa Maximovna during the ordeal she endured. As a clergyman, I would like to answer your question today: Yes, you did everything in your power, and you have done more!.. Your devoted and sacrificial attitude towards your spouse suffering from illness became an example to our nation, an example of how one should fulfill one's family duty, a reminder that conjugal ties are sacred, and that is so important today. And for these reasons the passing of Raisa Gorbachev proved to be a homily on love, mercy and devotion." A lot will be said about Mikhail Gorbachev during the days of the celebrations of his seventieth birthday, and so let my recollections become a part of a mosaic picture portraying the man whose destiny is so closely entwined with the history and life of Russia. I would like to wish Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev a peace of mind, happiness and prosperity, and congratulate him on his birthday. May God bless him and his dear ones.