So Brother Mikhail’s supposed conversion turns out to be piffle. Gorbachev remains an atheist.

As it happens, his visit to the Sacro Convento friary was the result of his poor Italian. “I asked the cab driver to take me to a Kentucky Fried Chicken,” Gorbachev told some 11-year-old children who were staring at his head. “I guess I need to brush up on my languages.”