church and state: In Russia and the USSR

In Russia and the USSR

In Russia the Orthodox Church was quite dominated by the state. In the Soviet Union, especially in its early period, the Communist party fostered much antireligious propaganda, and a large percentage of the churches were closed. The Constitution of 1936, however, guaranteed freedom of religious worship, and the Russian Orthodox Church was subsequently revived. In 1944 two state-controlled councils were established to supervise religion; one regulated the affairs of the Russian Church, the other those of the other Christian denominations and of the Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist groups. Similar systems of state control also existed in many other Communist countries.

Sections in this article:

Introduction
In Latin America
On the Continent and Elsewhere
In the United States
In the British Isles
Early Years to the Reformation
In Russia and the USSR
In the Byzantine Empire
Bibliography

See more Encyclopedia articles on: Political Science: Terms and Concepts