Investigating CSI – Background material Table of Contents I ...

Guest list pared
With the refusal of Patriarch Alexy II to attend, President Yeltsin said he would
not show up. Many say Yeltsin did not want to offend the church. In a scathing
editorial on Tueday, July 14, the Moscow Times chastized Yeltsin for refusing to
attend.
``It could have marked a closing of the books of Communism, an admission of
the old regime's excesses and a desire to look to the future,'' the newspaper said
in an editorial. ``But it now looks like it will turn into one of the most cowardly,
self-seeking and, frankly, stupid cat fights in the history of post-Soviet Russia.''
Just a day before the funeral, Yeltsin changed his mind, instantly elevating the
importance of the occasion.
Yeltsin said burial of Russia's last Czar and his family should redeem the sins of
the ancestors who killed them 80 years ago and tried to justify the murder
afterwards. ``The burial is an act of humane justice, a symbol of unification in
Russia and redemption of common guilt,'' Yeltsin told mourners in the former
imperial capital's Saint Peter and Paul Cathedral where the funeral took place.
``We must end the century which has been an age of blood and violence in
Russia with repentance and peace, regardless of political views, ethnic or
religious belonging,'' he said in a powerful, moving speech.
The diocese of St. Petersburg assigned seven local priests and and five deacons
to preside over the service. As the bones of the Czar were laid to rest, the
Romanov name was not even be mentioned. Instead, a prayer was said for all
the victims of oppression during the civil war and the years that followed.
Source: http://radio.cbc.ca/news/czar/
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