Dear readers,

Lately, the news has given center stage to the land of Russia. Whether it is touching on the Crimean or Ukrainian borders, the Syrian war zone, or the alleged involvement with the U.S. presidential election, Russia is seen stretching its muscles. The promise of Russia’s conversion made 100 years ago at Fatima however, is not forgotten in the minds of Catholics.

Meanwhile, it seems as if the Fatima prediction of “Russia spreading its errors,” a clear reference to communism, has indeed been fulfilled. Materialistic atheism and overpowering socialism have pervaded the West to a degree which we are not even willing to admit.

Some people might glorify the Tsar-like regime of Vladimir Putin who, as a true nationalist, moves his Russian pawns for the rebuilding of a strong and unified state with the help of the Russian Orthodox Church. Many have a mystical, and a quasi-mythical view of the Eastern Slavs, of their culture, and their religion. Most people, however, are very much aware of the huge gap which needs to be filled before Russia is ready to evolve into the kingdom of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

In this issue, whereas we have no claim to provide you with a complete mosaic of modern Russia, it is our hope to present some religious and cultural insights into this Eastern country, unknown to most of us. At least, many of us are familiar with its key figures—and its prophets in their own ways—like Dostoevsky and Solzhenitsyn.

Along with the Russian theme running through the magazine, we left some room for discussing the effects of the World War I Armistice of November 11, 1918 that catapulted the world into more chaos leading up to the next war. With this twin topic in the forefront, it is my firm hope that this introduction to unexplored terrain will provide some valuable lessons of endurance and resistance in the face of more powerful enemies.

Fr. Jürgen Wegner

Publisher