A sermon offered by Father Nicolas Tikhonchuk at the panikhida for Alexei Navalny on February 16, 2025 at the church of Our Lady–Joy of the Afflicted in Paris, France.
Dear friends,
We are gathered here today to hold a memorial service for Alexei Navalny and all the victims of Putin’s criminal regime in Russia and Ukraine.
Two days ago, we watched a documentary about Alexei Navalny and my nine-year-old son asked me: “Why did he sacrifice himself?” Indeed, why did he return to Russia, when he knew full well that he was going to die?
In reality, Alexei Navalny did not seek to die, but he loved his country so much and hated injustice that he was prepared to sacrifice his life; he simply could not act otherwise. It was love – love of his country, love of truth and justice – that led him to his own Golgotha.
In prison, he testified as follows: “Faith makes life simpler. . . You lie in your bunk looking up at the one above, and ask yourself whether you are a Christian in your heart of hearts. . . Are you a disciple of the religion whose founder sacrificed himself for others, paying the price for their sins? Do you believe in the immortality of the soul and the rest of that cool stuff? If you can honestly answer yes, what is there left for you to worry about?. . . My job is to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and leave it to good old Jesus and the rest of his family to deal with everything else. They won’t let me down and will sort out all my headaches. As they say in prison here: they will take my punches for me.” (“The Patriot,” 478-79)
These are the words of Alexei Navalny, who was murdered a year ago, on February 16, in one of the Russian regime’s most brutal prisons. His memoirs have been published, and they clearly show how he became a new man, a Christian. His book is a testimony to a true inner transformation. We can clearly see that he was not guided by hatred or revenge, and certainly not by political calculations.
And for us, his behavior may appear strange, incomprehensible, and perhaps absurd because we do not have the zeal that inflamed his burning heart. In the Book of Revelation we read the prophetic words addressed to one of the churches: “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:15) Alexei was on fire, which is why he defeated evil even though he lost his life.
His example is deeply moving for me. I was the same age as him. We belong to the same generation, that of people who saw the fall of the Soviet monster in the early 1990s. As a teenager, I came to church hoping to see the spiritual renewal of my country – and Alexei Navalny, in his field as a politician, hoped to change Russia.
I must say with regret that I have lost this hope for my country and for my Church. I am discouraged to see my country fall into a neo-Nazi trap. It disgusts me to see Christians in Russia blessing weapons and invading the neighboring country. But Alexei Navalny has lost neither hope nor faith, even when he was imprisoned or poisoned. That’s why, for me, he is a model Christian! He inspires me to fight evil, to never give up.
Alexei Navalny hated the corrupt system of Putin’s regime, he denounced the abuses and torture inflicted on prisoners, but in his testimonies in captivity, it is surprising to see that he did not express hatred against his executioners, but on the contrary, solidarity with the other victims, often humor, and a lot of love for his loved ones. Where did he get the strength to resist hatred and despair? No doubt from the conviction that, deep down, he was the winner, that the master of the Kremlin, surrounded by the armed forces, trembled before the prisoner of the Arctic Circle whose mouth spoke the truth, just as Herod trembled at the voice of John the Baptist that he heard from the depths of his dungeon.
In a prophetic video, a message-testament recorded in the run-up to his own assassination, he said: “If they have decided to kill me, it means that we are incredibly strong. We must use this strength. We are oppressed by these evil people only because we do not realize how strong we are. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for those who are good to do nothing.”
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matt. 5:6). These words perfectly describe Alexei Navalny, because he thirsted for justice and truth, and by embarking on this path, he came to God and found faith in Christ. Because it is in Christ that all justice and truth are found, for He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life in its fullness.
For me, the life of Alexei Navalny is a testimony to the fact that Christianity is the burning fire of the Spirit, the light that always shines despite the darkness of evil and despair.
Amen.