Religious Politics of the State and the Revival of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Days of the Great Patriotic War: A Case-Study of the Molotov Region
| 18 July 2024
Posted in
Publication of archival documents
Fedotova I.Ju.,
Perm, Russian Federation
Religious Politics of the State and the Revival of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Days of the Great Patriotic War: A Case-Study of the Molotov Region
Abstract
The article studies the impact of the religious politics of the state on the revival of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) during the Great Patriotic War and relies on analysis of documents stored in the state archives of Perm Krai. This is a case-study of the Molotov Region (currently the Perm Krai). From the very beginning the Soviet government pursued a hard-line religious policy. Attack on the Russian Orthodox Church was conducted on several fronts: there were repressions of the clergy and the church members, as well as anti-religious propaganda, active administrative measures were taken to close down churches. As when World War II began the ROC took a clearly patriotic attitude and became actively patriotic, the government began a gradual revision of its religious politics. This stemmed from the wartime need summon all resources, including spiritual ones. Watering-down of religious policies encouraged a gradual revival of religious life. In some areas, including in the Molotov region, the closing down of the churches had stopped. The local authorities allowed the use for the intended purpose of some of the houses of worship. The state didn’t interfere patriotic fundraising organized by some churches. In 1943 changes in the international atmosphere brought about further reconsideration of the religious politics of the state. A start was made on partnership with religious organizations, although limited. The rebuilding of the organizational structure of the Orthodox Church had sped up, the number of open churches grew. These trends were evident in the Molotov region as well: the See in Molotov was filled, a significant number of churches was reopened. In 1945, Moscow hosted the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. Believers were encouraged by the decisions of the Council. Many hoped that relations between the state and the Orthodox Church would continue improving. As a result, throughout the country there was a revival of religious life. The study suggests that changes in the religious politics of the state during the Great Patriotic War created favorable conditions for the legal existence of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Soviet Union in postwar period.
Keywords
Archive, source, the Russian Orthodox Church, church-state relations, religious politics, the Great Patriotic War, reopening of the churches
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About the authors
Fedotova Inna Yurevna, head of the Department of Finding Aids, Automated Archival Technologies and Information Retrieval Systems of the Perm State Archive of Contemporary History, Russian Federation, 8-904-842-02-75, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it