It was 1989. I studied at the Leningrad Theological Academy and at the same time, without interruption, restored the dilapidated Cathedral of Archangel Michael, handed over by the Soviet authorities in the city of Lomonosov near Leningrad. Once, after the Divine Liturgy, a woman of forty or forty-five, well-dressed, came up to me and asked me to take part in the upcoming meeting of city school teachers.
I have been to different groups with lectures and talks on spiritual topics. I always did it with joy and this time I accepted the invitation with gratitude. But when I found out that I was talking to a party trader and I was invited to a party meeting, I was quite puzzled.
“Pardon me,” I exclaimed, “but in what capacity can I be a member of your assembly if I am not only non-Party, but have never shared communist views?”
The woman partorga worried, afraid that I would refuse, and, in a hurry, began to explain:
— You see, Father, we have the topic on the agenda of the meeting: «Atheist education at the present stage.» Our town is small, so our party organization consists of teachers of the city and retired officers. People are all literate. As we learned about the agenda, they said that since now publicity and perestroika, for an alternative opinion, we want to hear what the priest will say on this issue.
Well, since this is the case, I will definitely come, I assured the woman. Having agreed on the time and place of the meeting, we parted.
The next day I went to school for a meeting. People had a full assembly hall. I took a seat in the front row. Next to me sat some guy with a briefcase, as it turned out, a specialist in atheism, sent by the district party Committee. The meeting began with the necessary formalities and the announcement of the agenda. Then the floor was given to the representative of the district committee. He performed for half an hour. His speech seemed meaningless to me, I can’t even remember what he said. But the central idea of his speech was the thesis: “Atheistic education should be carried out on the basis of scientific knowledge.” Then he sat down and gave me the word. The hall somehow revived, even the retired, who had previously been sleeping peacefully in their chairs, became alarmed. Everyone looked at me curiously, expecting me to oppose scientific knowledge.
But I did not intend to oppose anything to scientific knowledge. I have another plan. When I went to the podium, I warned that my performance would be very short.
I began my speech, and many even teach scientific knowledge, on the basis of which the previous speaker urged you to conduct atheistic education. Maybe I’m misunderstood, so I’m asking someone in this room to answer one question: What science has proven that there is no God? If anyone brings me such scientific proof, I take off my cross and cassock and write an application for admission to the Party.
The audience was worried. Teachers and military retirees began to whisper among themselves. And then everyone burst into applause. Of course, after that I was not released from the rostrum, but began to be bombarded with questions on various spiritual topics. So the meeting dragged on until late at night.
The next day one of our regular parishioners comes to me in the cathedral and says with tears in her eyes:
Father Nicholas, how can I thank you?
— What happened?
My husband, he is a retired lieutenant colonel, always scolding me that I go to church. And yesterday I came from the meeting and said, «Your priest spoke and put all our atheists in a puddle.» So, wife, go to church and pray for me there.
Priest Nikolai Agafonov
(1955-2019)
The Holy Land Charitable Foundation
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