I have always been very grateful to the Anglican religious order known as The Society of Saint Francis. I first came across them as a teenager when a number of the brothers came on a mission to my school. From those early days I have always been struck how, at their best, the brothers and sisters of the Franciscan community show a real Christian joy in their lives. They do this, despite having given up those material things which most people think are necessary for attaining happiness. It was their joyful following of Jesus that nurtured my vocation, and it has led to a lifelong interest in the story of that much loved, but very disturbing figure of St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis himself saw the whole purpose of his life as pointing to the hope that is to be found in following Jesus Christ. It seems that that pointing to Jesus is still something that happens through him.

During Holy Week this year I was giving a series of addresses in the Cathedral, based on the set readings from St. John’s Gospel. I was using as well some stories from the life of St. Francis to show how one human life responded to the death and resurrection of Jesus. One evening I was going to use the story of how St. Francis felt called to leave a military expedition, and finally give his life to following his true Lord. This decision was made at a place called Spoleto.

The very day that I was to give the address, I was astonished to read that Mikhail Gorbachev, the former President of the former USSR, had publicly stated that he was now a Christian. The 77 year old Gorbachev announced this on a visit to Assisi, where he had gone on pilgrimage, to repay his debt to St. Francis. The story of the little poor man of Assisi had been instrumental in leading him to faith. In particular Mr. Gorbachev wanted to see the illustration in the Basilica of St. Francis which showed him at Spoleto, where he turned his back on the military expedition to seek his true Lord.

Well of course that was a gift to this particular preacher for that evening. But since then I have been reflecting on the debate raised by Tony Blair in his recent lecture on the place of faith in society and politics. He spoke of how if you are a person of faith it is impossible for that faith not to affect your views and your politics. This alarms some commentators, and there are many calls to remove all religious views from public life.

Mr. Gorbachev has probably been on a long journey to faith. He would never have attained the position of leader of the Soviet Union if he had at that stage been a practising Christian. But there is plenty of evidence that he was open to the possibilities of faith even in his days of power. It was openness that led to perestroika and glasnost which offered new hope to a world stuck in the stalemate of the cold war. With hindsight maybe the possibilities of those days were never fully realised.

I believe Jesus Christ is the way to peace and hope in this world. He led St Francis to a life proclaiming that peace and hope. Only Mikhail Gorbachev can say if it was Christ that led him to seek reconciliation and hope between East and West. But I am left hoping that there are many Christians in world politics, and hoping that their faith certainly does inform their politics.

+Nigel