Yuri Gagarin Once Joked

On April 12, Russia celebrates Cosmonautics Day.

In this regard, I remember a funny story told by the first man to walk in outer space, Alexei Leonov, about Yuri Gagarin:

“On April 14, 1961, during a official reception in the Kremlin, Nikita Sergeevich, after the third or fourth toast, carefully asked Gagarin: “Yura, have you seen God?”

Gagarin answered jokingly: “I saw Him.”

Khrushchev: “Please, don’t tell anyone about this.”

After some time, the Patriarch approached Gagarin and asked the same thing.

It was no longer proper for him to joke, and he replied: “No, Holy Father, unfortunately, I didn’t see Him.”

Patriarch: “I beg you, Yura, don’t tell anyone about this.”

Yura told me this himself.”