Pastors in Western Europe and North America can only envy such numbers and devotion. With this religious revival, the astonishing number of priestly and monastic vocations, and the restored magnificence of the Russian churches, Patriarch Alexei II may think he has no need of a visit from the bishop of Rome. He already has a church that is growing with the devotion of many young people, one that represents a highly visible part of every city and village. Hence, his evident coolness. Nevsky is a sort of George Washington for the Russians, made a saint because he saved the country for the Orthodox religion.
Every Russian child learns the story.
And there is yet more that is seldom mentioned in Western history books. In the seventeenth century, Polish and Lithuanian armies invaded Russia. They brought with them Jesuit missionaries to convert the people to Catholicism. At the famous monastery of Optina Pustin, several hours from Moscow in the Russian countryside, I winced when a young Russian guide described how the Polish troops massacred the monks and then immolated the women and children who had taken refuge in the village church. As in Ireland or Bosnia, a dash of historical amnesia might be helpful in tempering ancient hostilities.