Stalin "icon" removed

(Russia IC) - A scandal flared up due to the incident with an icon portraying Joseph Stalin put up in the Church of Grand Princess St. Olga, Equal-to-the-Apostles, in Strelna, under St. Petersburg.

Following the indignant response of church authorities the 67-year-old Father Superior Evstafy, who had put the icon up, finally had to remove it.

Officially the scandalous icon is dedicated to St. Matrona of Moscow. However, it depicts a legendary incident when the generalissimo supposedly visited the saint to ask her for advice: whether Moscow had to be defended from fascists.

The absurd situation attracted “Communists of St. Petersburg” who took the news of Father Evstafy as a sky-sign and printed about three thousand icons depicting the Kremlin tyrant alone and with a halo above his head, and distributed the icons in the city.