The last communist leader of the Soviet Union has visited Assisi to pray at the tomb of St Francis, according to a local priest, confirming claims that the one-time official atheist is now a practising Christian.

"For me, St Francis is the alter Christus, the other Christ - his story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life," said Mikhail Gorbachev, whose remarks were reported by Italy's La Stampa daily.

"It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important I came to visit his tomb. I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not just for the Catholic faith but for all humanity."

The 77-year-old former Soviet leader, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for helping to bring a peaceful end to the Cold War, visited the north Italian town on 18 March with his daughter, Irina.

The Lithuanian priest, Fr Miroslavo Anuskevicius, said that the two had knelt in prayer for half an hour "with very oriental intensity" at the saint's tomb, before touring the basilica and asking to be shown an icon of St Francis' dream at Spoleto. He added that Mr Gorbachev later talked about Russia's transition to democracy, remarking that his country had "a great history, and a great spirituality".

Mr Gorbachev, who launched the reformist policies of glasnost and perestroika after becoming Soviet Communist Party General Secretary in March 1985, reopened dialogue with the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988 after seven decades of Communist rule, and was widely credited with helping restore religious freedom before resigning in 1991 after a failed  coup by Communist Party hardliners.

The former Communist, who was made an "archon", or noble, by the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate in October 2005, gave part of his Nobel award money to build a church at his birthplace of Privolnaya, near Stavropol, and later donated his parents' house to the parish for use by the priest's family. He maintained contacts with Pope John Paul II after a Vatican visit in March 1989, telling The Tablet in 1997 that the Polish-born pontiff was "the world's most left-wing leader" by virtue of his reaction to "poverty, injustice and human misery".

In a message for Mr Gorbachev's 75th birthday two years ago, Patriarch Alexei II said that the former Soviet leader had helped fellow-citizens "get rid of ideological illusions" and restore "sacred things which were ruined".