If our rulers are unbelievers, should we pray for them in church?

Question 60: If our rulers are Jews or unbelievers or heretics, should we pray for them in the church or not?

Answer:

Yes. The reason is that when the Apostle wrote to pray for kings and all those in power (1 Tim 2: 2), all the kings and rulers in the world were pagans; in any case it is clear that in the holy liturgical offering the priest implores God thus when he says, "Remember, Lord, every living person, both those we remember and those we do not remember. Have mercy on them all and grant them all forgiveness".

Question 61: Well, then, should one also pray for the pagans, who finished their lives before Christ’s appearance, and not anathematize them?

Answer:

1. You should certainly not anathematize anyone who died before Christ’s dwelling among us. The reason is that even in Hades the announcement of Christ was made once, though only once. It was John the Baptist who took the lead and proclaimed Christ there as well. And listen to what Saint Peter says about Christ: He went and made a proclamation even to the spirits in Hades who in former times did not obey (1 Pet 3: 19).

2. Indeed there is an ancient tradition that a certain lawyer had been cursing Plato the philosopher very much; then Plato appears to him in a dream saying to him, "Sir, stop your cursing of me, because you are only doing harm to yourself. I do not deny that I was indeed a sinful man; nevertheless when Christ descended into Hades, truly there was no one who believed in him sooner than I."

3. Do not think, when you hear this, that conversion is always possible in Hades. This is something that happened on one unique occasion, when Christ descended into the underworld in order to visit those who had fallen asleep from ages before.

 

Source: [St.] Anastasios of Sinai: Questions and Answers, translated by Joseph A. Munitiz (Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols Publishers, 2011), pp. 173-174.