Needless to say, the origin of church in Russia traces back to the time of Kievan Rus where Prince Vladimir in 988 made Christianity the state religion of Russia. In the 14th century Moscow was made the capital with the threat of the Mongol Tatars. During this period the church experience its status till the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Further from 1589 to 1721, the church was under the Patriarch. With the abolishment of the Patriarch, an ecclesiastical body known as Holy Synod was formed which lasted till 1917, last phase that they enjoyed the privileges before it saw its total freedom in 1990’s.
The policy of the Bolsheviks was really harsh on the religious grounds profoundly hostile particular to Russian orthodox. On January 23, 1918 a decree was issued declaring the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church. This decree put an end to the centuries old alliance between the church and state, where later during 1990’s, despite the law, there was close relationship within both the state and the church. From the period of the Bolshevik till the World War II, there was continuous suppression of religion, during which many churches were demolished and monasteries were converted to army barracks or ware houses. Throughout out this period anti-religious policy was …show more content…
But it somehow improved the religious fortunes of the church as the church which had been ceased to exist was reopened and monasteries began to function again. The church consolidated its position till Stalin’s death in 1953. Again the church was doomed with the succession of Khrushchev in 1956, when he launched a savage and a violent five year anti religious campaign against religion which was focused more on the Russian Orthodox
The policy of the Bolsheviks was really harsh on the religious grounds profoundly hostile particular to Russian orthodox. On January 23, 1918 a decree was issued declaring the separation of the church from the state and the school from the church. This decree put an end to the centuries old alliance between the church and state, where later during 1990’s, despite the law, there was close relationship within both the state and the church. From the period of the Bolshevik till the World War II, there was continuous suppression of religion, during which many churches were demolished and monasteries were converted to army barracks or ware houses. Throughout out this period anti-religious policy was …show more content…
But it somehow improved the religious fortunes of the church as the church which had been ceased to exist was reopened and monasteries began to function again. The church consolidated its position till Stalin’s death in 1953. Again the church was doomed with the succession of Khrushchev in 1956, when he launched a savage and a violent five year anti religious campaign against religion which was focused more on the Russian Orthodox