Highlighting the delicacy of the issue the head of the church, Patriarch Alexei, told the assembly that the canonisation could cause a split. In canonising the imperial family, the church hierarchy was anxious to stress that it was not endorsing Nicholas's record as tsar or making a political judgment, though that argument was dismissed as nonsensical by critics. The light of all-conquering Christian faith was seen in the suffering the royal family endured during their incarceration with gentleness, patience, and humility, and in their martyr deaths. The seven Romanovs and four servants were shot at point-blank range, ushering in the Red Terror. The sole survivor was Joy, the imperial spaniel.
Sainthood requires evidence of miracle-working.
As recently as three years ago the head of the church canonisation commission, Metropolitan Yuvenali, ruled out sainthood for the tsar on the grounds that there was no such evidence.