Soviet Anti-Religious Legislation
Encyclopedia
The Soviet Union
had the elimination of religion
and its replacement with state atheism
as a fundamental ideological goal of the state. While religion was never officially made illegal, the state nevertheless made great efforts towards the goal of eliminating religion. To this end throughout its history it engaged in anti-religious persecutions
of varying intensity and methodology. Believers were never officially attacked for being believers, but they were officially attacked for perceived or invented resistance to the state and its policies. These attacks, however, in the broader ideological context were ultimately meant to serve the ultimate goal of eliminating religion and replacing it with atheism, and the perceived resistance acted as a legal pretext to carry this out. Through this method believers were effectively widely attacked for being believers and promoting religion, but officially they were only attacked for disobedience to the state.
This disguise was helpful for the USSR in order to create a better image of itself abroad where mass public prayers and condemnation of influential church leaders fostered hostility against the USSR.
As part of these persecutions, the state enacted a significant body of legislation that regulated and curtailed religious practices. This, along with much secret instructions that were not published, formed the official legal position of the Soviet state against religion. It was designed in order to hurt and hamper religious activities, and the state often vigilantly watched religious believers for their breaking of these laws to justify arresting them; volunteer neighbourhood committees called 'public commissions for control over observance on the laws about religious cults' watched their religious neighbours and reported violations of the law to the appropriate authorities. The state sought to control religious bodies through such laws with the intention of making these bodies disappear. Often these laws carried many ambiguities that allowed for the state to abuse them in order to persecute believers.
Some of the most important legislation is listed and explained below, although this list is by no means comprehensive.
's Decree on the Separation of Church and State in January 1918, legislative measures against religion were enacted. Among important Acts included:
i) Act of the Commissar of Education
, 11 December 1917: ... It is declared that all control of education
al matters shall be handed over to the Commissariat of Education from all religious organizations
. All church/parish schools
, teachers colleges
, religious colleges
and seminaries
, ... all missionary
schools, [and] all academies
... with all of their property, both movable and immovable, i.e. with all buildings ... land, with all gardens, with all libraries ... valuables, capital and vulnerable papers ... and with all that was credited to the above mentioned schools and institutions, shall likewise be handed over to the Commissariat of Education. ... (Chairman
of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin).
ii) Decree on the Dissolution of Marriage, 18 December 1917: ... 12 ... All records currently in the possession of any religious organization are to be handed over to the local courts without delay. ... All decisions regarding the dissolution of marriage
already made or in the process of being ruled upon by any religious organization or by any of its representatives, are hereby declared destroyed and not valid, they are to be decided upon by the local courts upon their taking possession of the appropriate records. Parties not wishing to wait until this takes place have the right to issue a new petition for the dissolution of their marriage as described by this decree. ... (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin)
iii) Decree on Civic Marriages, on Children, and on the Introduction of Books or Records, 18 December 1917: The Russian Republic as of now recognizes only civil marriages
. ... (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin)
iv) Order of the People's Commissar of Military Affairs No. 39, 16 January 1918, On the prohibition of all powers of religious departments:
v) Order of the People's Commissar of Welfare, 20 January 1918: The distribution of subsidies for the maintenance of churches
, chapels
, and for the operations of religious orders are to be halted. Governmental support of clergy and teachers of religion is to be halted as of the 1st of March of this year. ... Church service
s and the fulfillment of the needs of believers may be continued on the condition of an expressed desire by collectives of believers who must assume the full cost of repairs and maintenance of churches, [and] of all inventory and all servers. (People's Commissar A. Kollontai)
This meant that religious communities from then onward had to rely entirely upon the voluntary support of its laity in order to continue existence.
's important 1918 Decree on the Separation of Church and State was followed by another body of legislation. Lenin's legislative acts would form what would be called the 'Leninist legality
' and would be considered a milestone and a reference point for later anti-religious campaigns and thought. Among key legislation passed included:
i) Separation of the Church from the State and the Schools from the Church: Decree of the Soviet of People's Commissars, 12 January 1918:
According to Riho Altnurme, 'disturbing public order' was used as grounds to outlaw religions sects with 'extreme mysticism' such as Skoptsy, Hlysty
, Pentecostals
and Jehovah's Witnesses
.
According to Gregory Freeze, church hierarchies
and dioceses
could not legally exist under Soviet law, and therefore if believers received instruction from priests
or bishops
as though such people were spiritual authorities, they could be punished along with the offending clergymen. In effect this made it extremely difficult for dioceses to be run except in a chaotic fashion; it also allowed for laity to assert increasing control over their churches and sometimes to have conflicts with the hierarchy as a result (and such conflicts were encouraged by the state).
ii) Constitution of the Russian Federated Socialist Republic, 10 July 1918:
Article Two: General Provisions of the Constutution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic. Chapter Five:
This right to carry out religious propaganda was limited by censorship in 1918 up until the right was later removed. Church presses were confiscated and virtually all church periodicals were shut down; the hierarchy was denied much ability to influnce lay opinion in the hope that this would sow discord and confusion in the church.
The Constitution was later modified in 1929, and the right of religious groupings to carry out religious propaganda was taken away, and it was made completely illegal to try to defend religion against atheist arguments or to engage in public discussion on religion. In its place the language read (Article 52) that all citizens had a right to "conduct religious worship or atheist propaganda".
Article Four: The Right to Vote. Chapter Thirteen:
iii) Declaration of the People's Commissar of Education
, 17 February 1918:
All teachers of religion of all religions are relieved of all of their duties and responsibilities as of the 1st of January 1918. (People's Commissar AV Lunacharsky)
iv) Declaration by the People's Commissar of Public Property, 14 January 1918:
The Court Clergy is abolished.
The protection of Court churches, as artistic and national monuments, is temporarily assigned to the Committees and Commissar
s of those places and institutions to which the churches are attached. If any religious society declares a desire to celebrate in those churches, then it will have to take upon itself the full cost of supporting the clergy, other religious servers and other associated costs... (Deputy People's Commissar Iu. Flakeerman)
v) Declaration of the People's Commissar of Justice
, 24 August 1918:
The fact that, this was a 'minimum' and there was no stated 'maximum', allowed for local authorities to set the minimum number at a high level.
This allowed for local authorities to fill a religious building's administration with citizens and thereby take control of the parish or faith community, even to the extent of 'voluntarily' shutting down the building.
, 30 July 1929:
According to Dimitry Pospielovsky, this meant that religious minister could be charged from 5 to 10 times the rent that would be required from workers for the same property.
ii) Act of the All-Russian Central Administrative Committee
and Soviet of People's Commissars RSFSR, 8 April 1929:
Pospielovsky argued that a priest could not live with a parishioner or relative in government-owned housing.
iii) Decree of SNK RSFSR
#23-24, 1929:
i) Circular NKF USSR #398, 10 September 1929:
(People's Commissar of Finance Briukhanov
)
Rule #21/177
(Assistant Head of Taxation the RSFSR People's Commissariat of Finance Starobinsky)
i) Law on military obligations, 1 September 1928:
Section 1: ... The armed defence of the USSR
shall be carried out only by the workers. Non-worker elements are charged with the fulifillment of other tasks for the defence of the USSR.
Section 236: Citizens, free from military service
on religious ground... are to be assigned to: in peacetime – public benefiting work (combating natural disasters, epidemics, etc.)... and in wartime – special brigades for the servicing of the front and rear.
Local courts freed people from military service.
The Central Committee and the Soviet of People's Commissars of the USSR decrees:
(Moscow
, Kremlin
, 10 April 1929)
ii) Instruction for the Fulfilment of [the above] Decree, 25 April 1929:
(Assistant Head of Taxation)
iii) Instruction on the Elections to the Soviets, Confirmed by the Presidium of the Central Committee, 4 November 1926:
iv) Act of the Central Committee and the Soviet of People's Commissars, 11 January 1928:
All Citizens of the USSR, who possess voting privileges... may organize consumer organizations to serve their consumer and household needs....
According to Pospielovsky, all clergy members (e.g. the people mentioned in the above list who had their voting rights deprived) could not form, participate or benefit from consumer organizations. This was very critical in some places of the country, since it was essential to be a member of such an organization in order to have access to any consumer goods.
v) Confirmation of the Central Committee, 15 December 1928:
...Those whose voting privileges have been suspended, have the last and lowest priority in land distribution
for use... Members of land organizations are considered all those who... possess voting privileges...
Pospielovsky argued that land organizations assigned land for all use. T his meant that the clergy and non-voting members could not have a say in land allocation. This was a very harsh measure against rural clergy who often depended on small gardens and farms for their survival. If rural clergy did receive land from the land organization it was usually the worst land available, that no one else wanted.
In 1936, this unequal status was repealed by Article 124 of the new constitution
, also known as the "Stalin
" constitution, which redesigned the government of the Soviet Union. Article 124 restored equal political rights to clergy (allowing them to run for office as well) on grounds that not all clergy were hostile to the regime and under the belief that the Soviet public ought to have been sufficiently 're-educated' by that point so as not to vote for people hostile to the regime.
vi) Act of the Soviet of People's Commissars of the USSR, 24 September 1929:
According to Pospielovsky, since only every Sunday was a day of rest, this made it impossible to have regular Sunday church attendance. The celebration of holidays such as Christmas or Easter was also hampered by mandatory work on those days.
The 1929 legislation effectively curtailed the church's public presence and mostly limited religious activities to services conducted within religious buildings only.
According to Christel Lane and the United States Department of State
Bulletin of 1986, this meant that those under 18 years of age could not be part of a religion and therefore the law required that they be excluded from religious activities.
According to Edward Derwinski, the state used this right to de-register religious groupings, thus making it illegal for them to continue worship, and this was used to gradually reduce the number of registered religious buildings (i.e. churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) across the country.
Article 17 banned churches from being used for activities beyond worship, thereby outlawing parish libraries, organized religious education, prayer meetings for women and young people, religious study groups and sewing circles.
According to Jennifer Wynot, priests were forbidden from living in cities.
This meant that they had to get advanced permission.
Legislation passed in 1929 also forbade clergy or monastics from wearing religious garb in public. Islamic courts in Central Asia
that interpreted Shariah were fully eliminated after this legislation in 1929.
, was designed to assist the anti-religious campaign especially with regard to the massive number of church closures that were conducted. It gave the state tight control over religious practices.
Instruction on the Application of the Legislation on Religious Cults.
Approved on 16 March 1961:
I General
II The Activities of the Clergy and the Religious Associations must correspond to the following demands
An exception was made for the sick and dying.
III. Supervision over the fulfilment of the Legislation on Cults
IV. Order and Procedures regarding Registration of Religious Associations, Opening and Closing of Prayer Houses
V. Rules on the Use of Objects (Utensils) of the Cult
Basically the same as in LRA. A lesser role is given to the CROCA/CRC; a greater to local governments.
CROCA and CRC were amalgamated in 1965 to form the Council for Religious Affairs
(CRA). CROCA and CRC were originally created by Joseph Stalin
during the second world war
(1939–1945) as liaison bodies between religion and the government. Under Nikita Khrushchev
this function began to evolve into dictatorial bodies that exerted control over religious activities in the country. Articles 24–26 were ambiguous enough, that in practice they could be effectively used in order to close churches on a wide scale, as occurred under Khrushchev. The meagre protection that they offered (such as in article 26) were eliminated in 1975.
Articles 6, 7, 10 and 11 could also be used. Choral singing, processions, church bells and other normal functions of churches could be interpreted as ‘disturbing public order’ and prohibited.
Article 7a–c could be used by the state, which could apply it to any homily or sermon it didn’t like. For example, Bishop Khrizostom of Kursk
criticized ‘scientific atheism’ and claimed that science
also needed faith
as a motivation for its development, and as a result the bishop lost his position in the Department of External Ecclesiastical Relations and was moved to the Urals in 1984. Monks who preached about concentrating on the spiritual life and disregarding the temptations of the material world could be interpreted as ‘propaganda aimed at tearing believers away from active participation in the state’. Fr Amvrossi was harassed and expelled twice in 1976 as a result of such homilies
. Before this legislation had taken effect, believers who preached against atheism could be arrested for making 'political' sermons
that were interpreted as an attack on state ideology.
Article 10b in practice forbade priests from organizing pilgrimages
, and from making claims of the miraculous
. Priests were de-registered and even imprisoned for telling their parishioners about miracles. For example, Fr Sergi Zheludkov lost his registration in the 1960s for taking some of his parishioners to see supposed miraculous icon renewals (where an icon that is dark and covered with soot suddenly begin to shine again as though new).
Article 11, made it such that it was not the Church that decided to have a church council or how many theological
colleges were needed for its spiritual needs but rather it was the government that decided.
Legislation in this year also gave the state control of financial activities of religious institutions and legally separated priests from control of parishes. A further law in 1962 gave the state control of all baptisms
, marriages
, burial services and other religious rites.
(CRA) of the Council of Ministers was created from the amalgamation of CROCA and CRC. This organization inherited the role of dictatorial control over religious life in the country and it used whatever means it could in order to disrupt or put down religious activities. Its legal mandate was strengthened in the 1975 amendments to the LRA, although many of the powers that it would be officially given were things that it had already effectively been using (from its predecessors) since Nikita Khrushchev
.
Adopted on 8 December 1965, confirmed on 10 May 1966
(created in 1965), which was given effective legal control and interference in the spiritual life of religious organizations. The amendments are listed below.
According to Yakunin and Regelson, there was no time limit for when it had to make a decision and this legal ambiguity was abused by the CRA.
This allowed prayer houses to be closed down and reassigned for public purposes.
Deregistration of religious associations is enacted by the Council for Religious Affairs… on the representation from the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]…
The breaking of the laws on the separation of Church and State, and Schools and Church – is punishable by correctional labour
for up to one year, or by a fine of up to fifty roubles… repeat offenders are to be imprisoned for up to three years.
Article 143
The hindrance of prevention of the fulfillment of religious functions, so far as they do not harm the social order or infringe upon individual rights – is punishable by correctional labour for up to six months by a public reprimand.
Article 142 could only be applied to believers who violated the law, while article 143 was for non-believers. This meant that in the unlikely scenario that a group of religious believers who sued a Soviet official, and an even less likely scenario of them winning the case, the guilty administrator would likely only have to face a public reprimand. No matter how many times such an official could be found guilty, the most he could be punished would be six months or correctional labour, while believers could face up to three years imprisonment.
Article 190
The systematic distribution of false information, harmful to the Soviet government, or to the social order, whether in oral, written, or any other form – is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, or by correctional work for up to one year, or by a fine up to 100 roubles.
This included homilies condemning religious persecutions.
Article 199
… the unlicensed construction of a dwelling or an addition – is punishable by correctional work for a period of 6 months to one year with a confiscation of the construction or addition.
This punished the expansion of a church without government authorization.
Article 277
Organizations or the leadership of a group, which function under the guise of fulfilling religious duties, that are harmful, or that enlist other citizens into harmful activities by threat of expulsion from the religious group, or attempt to enlist or force others to enlist minors into the group – is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, or banishment for up to five years with or without confiscation of property…
According to Pospielovsky, this was interpreted to prohibit any missionary work, and threatened with imprisonment any person who attracted converts or who strengthened religious convictions. This also allowed for the punishment of clergymen who tried to invoke spiritual discipline upon those under them who exhibited immoral or spiritually demoralizing behaviour.
Other laws not mentioned included prohibitions of teaching religion to children under the age of 18, requirements to register all baptisms and religious rites with the state, as well as forbidding of priests to be on church councils.
|last=Anderson |first=John |title=Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge
|location=Cambridge }} |last=Davis |first=Nathaniel |title=A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy |year=2003 |publisher=Westview
|location= |page=8 }} |last=Kolarz |first=Walter |title=Religion in the Soviet Union |year=1961 |publisher=St. Martin's Press
|location=New York }} |last=Lane |first=Christel |title=Christian Religion in the Soviet Union: A Sociological Study |year=1978 |publisher=University of New York
|location=New York }} |last=Pospielovsky |first=Dimitry V. |title=A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer | volume=1: "A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies" |year=1987 |publisher=St. Martin's Press
|location=New York }} |last1=Yakunin |first1=Gleb |last2=Regelson |first2=Lev |editor=Jane Ellis |title=Letters from Moscow: Religion and Human Rights in Russia |date=27 June 1976 |publisher=Keston College |location=Moscow |url=http://www.regels.org/humanright.htm }}
Bulletins, journals and magazines
|last=Anderson |first=John |title=The Council for Religious Affairs and the Shaping of Soviet Religious Policy |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=689–710 |journal=Soviet Studies |publisher=Cambridge University
|location=Cambridge |year=1991 }} |last=Derwinski |first=Edward |title=Religious Persecution in the Soviet Union |volume= |issue=Bulletin 86: 77+ |pages= |journal=US Department of State Bulletin |publisher=US Department of State |location=Washington |year=1986 }} |last=Dixon |first=Paul |title=Religion in the Soviet Union |volume= |issue= |pages= |journal=Workers International News |publisher= |location= |year=1945 |url=http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406.htm }} |last=Freeze |first=Gregory L. |title=Counter-Reformation in Russian Orthodoxy: Popular Response to Religious Innovation, 1922-1925 |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=305–339 |journal=Slavic Review |publisher= |location= |year=1995 }} |last=Tchepournaya |first=Olga |title=The Hidden Sphere of Religious Searches in the Soviet Union: Independent Religious Communities in Leningrad from the 1960s to the 1970s |volume=64 |issue=3 |chapter=12 |year=2003 |month=March |journal=Church History |publisher= |location= |page=377 }} |last= |first= |title=Religion in Eastern Europe |volume= |issue=86 |chapter= |year=1986 |month=March |journal=US Department of State Bulletin |publisher=US Department of State |location=Washington }} |last=Wynot |first=Jennifer |title=Monasteries without Walls: Secret Monasticism in the Soviet Union, 1928-39 |volume=71 |issue=1 |chapter=17 |year=2002 |month=March |journal=Church History |publisher= |location= |page=63 }}
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
had the elimination of religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
and its replacement with state atheism
State atheism
State atheism is the official "promotion of atheism" by a government, sometimes combined with active suppression of religious freedom and practice...
as a fundamental ideological goal of the state. While religion was never officially made illegal, the state nevertheless made great efforts towards the goal of eliminating religion. To this end throughout its history it engaged in anti-religious persecutions
Religious persecution
Religious persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group of individuals as a response to their religious beliefs or affiliations or lack thereof....
of varying intensity and methodology. Believers were never officially attacked for being believers, but they were officially attacked for perceived or invented resistance to the state and its policies. These attacks, however, in the broader ideological context were ultimately meant to serve the ultimate goal of eliminating religion and replacing it with atheism, and the perceived resistance acted as a legal pretext to carry this out. Through this method believers were effectively widely attacked for being believers and promoting religion, but officially they were only attacked for disobedience to the state.
This disguise was helpful for the USSR in order to create a better image of itself abroad where mass public prayers and condemnation of influential church leaders fostered hostility against the USSR.
As part of these persecutions, the state enacted a significant body of legislation that regulated and curtailed religious practices. This, along with much secret instructions that were not published, formed the official legal position of the Soviet state against religion. It was designed in order to hurt and hamper religious activities, and the state often vigilantly watched religious believers for their breaking of these laws to justify arresting them; volunteer neighbourhood committees called 'public commissions for control over observance on the laws about religious cults' watched their religious neighbours and reported violations of the law to the appropriate authorities. The state sought to control religious bodies through such laws with the intention of making these bodies disappear. Often these laws carried many ambiguities that allowed for the state to abuse them in order to persecute believers.
Some of the most important legislation is listed and explained below, although this list is by no means comprehensive.
USSR anti-religious campaign (1917–1928)
Legislation that precedeed Lenin's Decree on the Separation of Church and State
From November 1917 until LeninVladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's Decree on the Separation of Church and State in January 1918, legislative measures against religion were enacted. Among important Acts included:
i) Act of the Commissar of Education
Ministry of Education (Soviet Union)
Ministry of Education, founded as the People's Commissariat for Education but commonly called Narkompros , was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most of other issues related to culture. In 1946, it was renamed the Ministry of Education. Its first head was...
, 11 December 1917: ... It is declared that all control of education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
al matters shall be handed over to the Commissariat of Education from all religious organizations
Religious denomination
A religious denomination is a subgroup within a religion that operates under a common name, tradition, and identity.The term describes various Christian denominations...
. All church/parish schools
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
, teachers colleges
Normal school
A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name...
, religious colleges
College religious organizations
Religious groups are among the most common types of student organization, and evangelical Christian groups predominate. Whenever universities employ chaplains the chaplains are frequently responsible for authorizing and overseeing these groups.-Christian groups:...
and seminaries
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
, ... all missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
schools, [and] all academies
Academy
An academy is an institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership.The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and skill, north of Athens, Greece. In the western world academia is the...
... with all of their property, both movable and immovable, i.e. with all buildings ... land, with all gardens, with all libraries ... valuables, capital and vulnerable papers ... and with all that was credited to the above mentioned schools and institutions, shall likewise be handed over to the Commissariat of Education. ... (Chairman
Premier of the Soviet Union
The office of Premier of the Soviet Union was synonymous with head of government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics . Twelve individuals have been premier...
of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin).
ii) Decree on the Dissolution of Marriage, 18 December 1917: ... 12 ... All records currently in the possession of any religious organization are to be handed over to the local courts without delay. ... All decisions regarding the dissolution of marriage
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
already made or in the process of being ruled upon by any religious organization or by any of its representatives, are hereby declared destroyed and not valid, they are to be decided upon by the local courts upon their taking possession of the appropriate records. Parties not wishing to wait until this takes place have the right to issue a new petition for the dissolution of their marriage as described by this decree. ... (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin)
iii) Decree on Civic Marriages, on Children, and on the Introduction of Books or Records, 18 December 1917: The Russian Republic as of now recognizes only civil marriages
Civil marriage
Civil marriage is marriage performed by a government official and not a religious organization.-History:Every country maintaining a population registry of its residents keeps track of marital status, and most countries believe that it is their responsibility to register married couples. Most...
. ... (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars VI Lenin)
iv) Order of the People's Commissar of Military Affairs No. 39, 16 January 1918, On the prohibition of all powers of religious departments:
- All religious ministers and practisers currently employed by war departments are discharged.
- All powers of military clergyMilitary chaplainA military chaplain is a chaplain who ministers to soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and other members of the military. In many countries, chaplains also minister to the family members of military personnel, to civilian noncombatants working for military organizations and to civilians within the...
are dissolved. - War committees have the right to retain religious ministers, providing this is in accordance with the desires of their members.
- In the above case the support of such a minister will be entirely up to the concerned committees.
- All wealth and property of military churches, without exception, is to be handed over to the war committees of the units involved for safe-keeping.
v) Order of the People's Commissar of Welfare, 20 January 1918: The distribution of subsidies for the maintenance of churches
Church Maintenance
Church maintenance is the proper support of church edifices and church institutions, as well as of the clergy who minister in them. As it is a visible organization, these must be maintained....
, chapels
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
, and for the operations of religious orders are to be halted. Governmental support of clergy and teachers of religion is to be halted as of the 1st of March of this year. ... Church service
Church service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
s and the fulfillment of the needs of believers may be continued on the condition of an expressed desire by collectives of believers who must assume the full cost of repairs and maintenance of churches, [and] of all inventory and all servers. (People's Commissar A. Kollontai)
This meant that religious communities from then onward had to rely entirely upon the voluntary support of its laity in order to continue existence.
1918 Legislation
LeninVladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
's important 1918 Decree on the Separation of Church and State was followed by another body of legislation. Lenin's legislative acts would form what would be called the 'Leninist legality
Socialist law
Socialist law denotes a general type of legal system which has been used in communist and formerly communist states. It is based on the civil law system, with major modifications and additions from Marxist-Leninist ideology. There is controversy as to whether socialist law ever constituted a...
' and would be considered a milestone and a reference point for later anti-religious campaigns and thought. Among key legislation passed included:
i) Separation of the Church from the State and the Schools from the Church: Decree of the Soviet of People's Commissars, 12 January 1918:
- The Church is separated from the State.
- Within the territory of the Republic, it is forbidden to pass any local laws or regulations which would restrain or limit the freedom of conscience or which would grant special rights or privileges on the basis of the religious confession of citizens.
- Every citizen may confess any religion or profess none at all. Every legal restriction connected with the profession of no faith is now revoked.
- Note: in all official documents every mention of a citizen's religious affiliation or nonaffiliation shall be removed.
- The actions of the government or other organizations of public law may not be accompanied by any religious rites or ceremonies.
- The free performance of religious rites is granted as long as it does not disturb public orderPublic order crimeIn criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel as "...crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e. it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal because it is contrary to shared norms, social values, and...
or infringe upon the rights of citizens of the Soviet Republic. In such cases the local authorities are entitled to take the necessary measures to secure public order and safety.
According to Riho Altnurme, 'disturbing public order' was used as grounds to outlaw religions sects with 'extreme mysticism' such as Skoptsy, Hlysty
Khlysts
Khlysts or Khlysty was an underground sect from late 17th to early 20th century that split off the Russian Orthodox Church and belonged to the Spiritual Christians tendency.-Definition:...
, Pentecostals
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
and Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...
.
- No one may refuse to carry out his citizen's duties on the grounds of his religious views.
- Religious vows or oaths are abolished. In necessary situations a ceremonial promise will suffice.
- The acts of civil status are registered exclusively by the civil authorities at the departments for the registration of marriages and births.
- The school is separated from the church. The teaching of religious doctrinesDoctrineDoctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
in all state and public schools, or in private educational institutionsPrivate schoolPrivate schools, also known as independent schools or nonstate schools, are not administered by local, state or national governments; thus, they retain the right to select their students and are funded in whole or in part by charging their students' tuition, rather than relying on mandatory...
where general subjects are taught, is prohibited. Citizens may receive and give religious instructions privately. - All ecclesiastical and religious associations are subject to the same general regulations to private associations and unions, and shall not enjoy any benefits, nor any subsidies either from the Government, nor from any of its autonomous or self-governing institutions.
- Religious organizations are prohibited from calling obligatory gatherings for its members, from establishing membership dues, and from disciplining any of its members in any way.
According to Gregory Freeze, church hierarchies
Catholic Church hierarchy
The term Hierarchy in the Catholic Church has a variety of related usages. Literally, "holy government", the term is employed in different instances. There is a Hierarchy of Truths, which refers to the levels of solemnity of the official teaching of the faith...
and dioceses
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
could not legally exist under Soviet law, and therefore if believers received instruction from priests
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
or bishops
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
as though such people were spiritual authorities, they could be punished along with the offending clergymen. In effect this made it extremely difficult for dioceses to be run except in a chaotic fashion; it also allowed for laity to assert increasing control over their churches and sometimes to have conflicts with the hierarchy as a result (and such conflicts were encouraged by the state).
- No church or religious organizations are permitted to own propertyPropertyProperty is any physical or intangible entity that is owned by a person or jointly by a group of people or a legal entity like a corporation...
. They do not have the rights of a legal person. - Any and all property that any church or religious organization may in RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
is hereby declared to be public propertyPublic propertyPublic property is property, which is dedicated to the use of the public. It is a subset of state property. The term may be used either to describe the use to which the property is put, or to describe the character of its ownership...
. Buildings and objects required specifically for religious ceremonies, are to be given only by special decrees by either local or central governmental powers, for free use for the appropriate religious organization. (Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars, VI Lenin)
ii) Constitution of the Russian Federated Socialist Republic, 10 July 1918:
Article Two: General Provisions of the Constutution of the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic. Chapter Five:
- For the purpose of securing to the workers real freedom of conscienceFreedom of thoughtFreedom of thought is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints....
, the church is to be separated from the state and the school from the church, and the right of religious and anti-religious propaganda is accorded to every citizen.
This right to carry out religious propaganda was limited by censorship in 1918 up until the right was later removed. Church presses were confiscated and virtually all church periodicals were shut down; the hierarchy was denied much ability to influnce lay opinion in the hope that this would sow discord and confusion in the church.
The Constitution was later modified in 1929, and the right of religious groupings to carry out religious propaganda was taken away, and it was made completely illegal to try to defend religion against atheist arguments or to engage in public discussion on religion. In its place the language read (Article 52) that all citizens had a right to "conduct religious worship or atheist propaganda".
Article Four: The Right to Vote. Chapter Thirteen:
- The following persons enjoy neither the right to voteSuffrageSuffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
nor the right to be voted for, even though they belong to one of the categories enumerated above, namely:- (b) Persons who have an income without doing any work, such as interest from capital, receipts from property, etc.;
- (d) Monks and clergy of all denominations;
iii) Declaration of the People's Commissar of Education
Ministry of Education (Soviet Union)
Ministry of Education, founded as the People's Commissariat for Education but commonly called Narkompros , was the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most of other issues related to culture. In 1946, it was renamed the Ministry of Education. Its first head was...
, 17 February 1918:
All teachers of religion of all religions are relieved of all of their duties and responsibilities as of the 1st of January 1918. (People's Commissar AV Lunacharsky)
iv) Declaration by the People's Commissar of Public Property, 14 January 1918:
The Court Clergy is abolished.
The protection of Court churches, as artistic and national monuments, is temporarily assigned to the Committees and Commissar
Commissar
Commissar is the English transliteration of an official title used in Russia from the time of Peter the Great.The title was used during the Provisional Government for regional heads of administration, but it is mostly associated with a number of Cheka and military functions in Bolshevik and Soviet...
s of those places and institutions to which the churches are attached. If any religious society declares a desire to celebrate in those churches, then it will have to take upon itself the full cost of supporting the clergy, other religious servers and other associated costs... (Deputy People's Commissar Iu. Flakeerman)
v) Declaration of the People's Commissar of Justice
Ministry of Justice (Soviet Union)
The Ministry of Justice of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , formed on 15 March 1946, was one of the most important government offices in the Soviet Union. It was formerly known as the People's Commissariat for Justice...
, 24 August 1918:
- The minimum of local citizens required, in order to receive the use of religious property, shall be set by the local Soviet of Worker and Peasant DeputiesCongress of SovietsThe Congress of Soviets was the supreme governing body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and several other Soviet republics from 1917–36 and again from 1989-91. After the creation of the Soviet Union, the Congress of Soviets of the Soviet Union functioned as its legislative branch...
, but this number may not be less than 20.
The fact that, this was a 'minimum' and there was no stated 'maximum', allowed for local authorities to set the minimum number at a high level.
- Those who take upon themselves the use of a church building are obligated to: ... in the event of the revelation by the Soviet of Worker and Peasant Deputies of embezzlement or ill usage of lent properyt, immediately give up said property to the Soviet of Worker and Peasant Deputies upon their first demand. ...
- All local citizens of the corresponding faith have the right to ... take part in the administration of the church property to the same degree as the founders of the association.
This allowed for local authorities to fill a religious building's administration with citizens and thereby take control of the parish or faith community, even to the extent of 'voluntarily' shutting down the building.
- In government and all publicly administered buildings, it is, without exception, forbidden to:
- a) hold religious functions or ceremonies (prayer services, funerals, etc.);
- b) house any sort of religious items (icons, pictures, statues of a religious nature, etc.).
- Religious processions, and the carrying-out of any sort of religious functions outside, is allowed only with written permission from the local Soviet authority, which must be obtained for each separate occasion. ... (People's Commissar D. Kursky)
Laws on Separation of Church and State from 1929
i) Act #259 of the People's Commissar of Internal AffairsNKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
, 30 July 1929:
- ... for former church/parish houses or former monasteryMonasteryMonastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
buildings, if they are rented out to workers, they will be responsible for all repairs, and they must be charged rent equivalent to the devaluation of the property. This is to be considered as 1 per cent of the current construction cost for stone buildings, and 2 per cent for wooden buildings. For tenantsLeasehold estateA leasehold estate is an ownership of a temporary right to land or property in which a lessee or a tenant holds rights of real property by some form of title from a lessor or landlord....
living off non-labour income, including religious servers, the rent shall be determined as the cost of the devaluation of the property plus the interest upon the cost of the construction of the building, assumed to be up to 10 per cent per year, depending upon local condition and the situation of the tenant.
According to Dimitry Pospielovsky, this meant that religious minister could be charged from 5 to 10 times the rent that would be required from workers for the same property.
ii) Act of the All-Russian Central Administrative Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee
All-Russian Central Executive Committee , was the highest legislative, administrative, and revising body of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. Although the All-Russian Congress of Soviets had supreme authority, in periods between its sessions its powers were passed to VTsIK...
and Soviet of People's Commissars RSFSR, 8 April 1929:
- Persons living off non-labour income ... exceeding 3000 roubles per year, living in nationalized or municipally owned housing, cannot have their leases extended past the 1st of October 1929 ... they must be moved out without being offered alternative living space.
- In all municipally owned or nationalized housing ... it is from now on forbidden to rent out space to those on non-labour incomes. It is also likewise forbidden to sublet, or take in as boarders those living on non-labour incomes.
Pospielovsky argued that a priest could not live with a parishioner or relative in government-owned housing.
iii) Decree of SNK RSFSR
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic , commonly referred to as Soviet Russia, Bolshevik Russia, or simply Russia, was the largest, most populous and economically developed republic in the former Soviet Union....
#23-24, 1929:
- All cemeteries.. and all funeral organizations are hereby placed in the control of local Soviet deputies. (People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Tolmachev)
Laws Concerning the Taxation of Religious Cults and their Employees
High taxes on religious buildings and clergy were meant to cripple the religious bodies financially.i) Circular NKF USSR #398, 10 September 1929:
- Buildings, assigned for religious use ... and supplied free of charge for use to religious organizations, are subject to local taxes....
- ... nonpayment of taxes on time will result in the confiscation of the building.
(People's Commissar of Finance Briukhanov
Nikolai Bryukhanov
Nikolai Pavlovich Bryukhanov was a Soviet statesman and political figure who served as People's Commissar of Finance between 1926 and 1930...
)
Rule #21/177
- In those municipalities where there are municipal administrators, those citizens who are deprived of civic rightsTown privilegesTown privileges or city rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium.Judicially, a town was distinguished from the surrounding land by means of a charter from the ruling monarch that defined its privileges and laws. Common privileges were related to trading...
and thus cannot perform administrative functions are subject to a surtax. (those deprived of civic rights are defined in the constitution from 1918 above.) - ... The surtax shall not exceed 10 roubles...
(Assistant Head of Taxation the RSFSR People's Commissariat of Finance Starobinsky)
Laws Concerning Civil Obligations
These come from the latter part of the 1920s.i) Law on military obligations, 1 September 1928:
Section 1: ... The armed defence of the USSR
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
shall be carried out only by the workers. Non-worker elements are charged with the fulifillment of other tasks for the defence of the USSR.
Section 236: Citizens, free from military service
Military service
Military service, in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft . Some nations require a specific amount of military service from every citizen...
on religious ground... are to be assigned to: in peacetime – public benefiting work (combating natural disasters, epidemics, etc.)... and in wartime – special brigades for the servicing of the front and rear.
Local courts freed people from military service.
The Central Committee and the Soviet of People's Commissars of the USSR decrees:
- Citizens assigned to home front service... in peacetime are subject to a special military tax for the duration of their home front service designation.
- ... the rate of tax shall be as follows: ... for those with an income up to 1800 roubles – the equivalent of 50 per cent of their income tax; with an income up to 3000 roubles – 75 per cent of their income tax; over 3000 roubles – 100 per cent of their income tax... but the special tax shall not exceed 20 per cent of the person's taxable income.
- The special military tax shall be collected for the first five-year period of one's home front service designation, and after this – for one year of every six years of home front service designation.
(Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Kremlin
Kremlin
A kremlin , same root as in kremen is a major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This word is often used to refer to the best-known one, the Moscow Kremlin, or metonymically to the government that is based there...
, 10 April 1929)
ii) Instruction for the Fulfilment of [the above] Decree, 25 April 1929:
- The maximum age for being designated for home front service is 40 ...
(Assistant Head of Taxation)
iii) Instruction on the Elections to the Soviets, Confirmed by the Presidium of the Central Committee, 4 November 1926:
- Servers of cults of all religions and beliefs, including: monksMonkA monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
, novicesNoviceA novice is a person or creature who is new to a field or activity. The term is most commonly applied in religion and sports.-Buddhism:In many Buddhist orders, a man or woman who intends to take ordination must first become a novice, adopting part of the monastic code indicated in the vinaya and...
, deaconsDeaconDeacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
, psalmists, mullahsMullahMullah is generally used to refer to a Muslim man, educated in Islamic theology and sacred law. The title, given to some Islamic clergy, is derived from the Arabic word مَوْلَى mawlā , meaning "vicar", "master" and "guardian"...
, rabbisRabbiIn Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
, lamasLamaLama is a title for a Tibetan teacher of the Dharma. The name is similar to the Sanskrit term guru .Historically, the term was used for venerated spiritual masters or heads of monasteries...
, shamans, pastorsPastorThe word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
... and all those who fulfill similar functions, are denied voting privileges... Family members of those whose voting privileges are suspended, and if the source of their income is social benefiting labour...
iv) Act of the Central Committee and the Soviet of People's Commissars, 11 January 1928:
All Citizens of the USSR, who possess voting privileges... may organize consumer organizations to serve their consumer and household needs....
According to Pospielovsky, all clergy members (e.g. the people mentioned in the above list who had their voting rights deprived) could not form, participate or benefit from consumer organizations. This was very critical in some places of the country, since it was essential to be a member of such an organization in order to have access to any consumer goods.
v) Confirmation of the Central Committee, 15 December 1928:
...Those whose voting privileges have been suspended, have the last and lowest priority in land distribution
Distribution (economics)
Distribution in economics refers to the way total output, income, or wealth is distributed among individuals or among the factors of production .. In general theory and the national income and product accounts, each unit of output corresponds to a unit of income...
for use... Members of land organizations are considered all those who... possess voting privileges...
Pospielovsky argued that land organizations assigned land for all use. T his meant that the clergy and non-voting members could not have a say in land allocation. This was a very harsh measure against rural clergy who often depended on small gardens and farms for their survival. If rural clergy did receive land from the land organization it was usually the worst land available, that no one else wanted.
In 1936, this unequal status was repealed by Article 124 of the new constitution
1936 Soviet Constitution
The 1936 Soviet constitution, adopted on December 5, 1936, and also known as the "Stalin" constitution, redesigned the government of the Soviet Union.- Basic provisions :...
, also known as the "Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
" constitution, which redesigned the government of the Soviet Union. Article 124 restored equal political rights to clergy (allowing them to run for office as well) on grounds that not all clergy were hostile to the regime and under the belief that the Soviet public ought to have been sufficiently 're-educated' by that point so as not to vote for people hostile to the regime.
vi) Act of the Soviet of People's Commissars of the USSR, 24 September 1929:
- In all industriesIndustryIndustry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
... [and] in all institutionsInstitutionAn institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community...
, that operate year round... the five-day work week (four days of work and one day of rest) is to be introduced...
According to Pospielovsky, since only every Sunday was a day of rest, this made it impossible to have regular Sunday church attendance. The celebration of holidays such as Christmas or Easter was also hampered by mandatory work on those days.
The Laws on Religious Associations (LRA) of 8 April 1929
A new volume of anti-religious legislation was introduced in 1929 due to the failure of the anti-religious campaign in the previous decade and the successful resistance that the church was able to fight against the atheistic propaganda. The legislation would form part of the basis for the harsh persecution that would be carried out in the 1930s. This 1929 legislation formed the main legal basis for the governing of religious activities in the USSR. It would be added to by the Instruction on the Supervision over the Fulfillment of Religious Cults in 1961 and the 1965 Statue of the Council for Religious Affairs (CRA). The 1929 laws would be amended later in 1975.The 1929 legislation effectively curtailed the church's public presence and mostly limited religious activities to services conducted within religious buildings only.
- A religious society is a local association of believers at least 18 years of age, belonging to the same religious cult, faith, orientation or sect, numbering no less than twenty persons, having come together for the joint satisfaction of their religious needs.
According to Christel Lane and the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
Bulletin of 1986, this meant that those under 18 years of age could not be part of a religion and therefore the law required that they be excluded from religious activities.
- A religious society or group of believers may start its activities only after the registration of the society or group by the Committee on Religious Matters at the proper city or district (raion) Soviet.
According to Edward Derwinski, the state used this right to de-register religious groupings, thus making it illegal for them to continue worship, and this was used to gradually reduce the number of registered religious buildings (i.e. churches, synagogues, mosques, etc.) across the country.
- In order to register a religious society at least 20 initiators must submit to the agencies mentioned in the previous Article an application in accordance with the form determined by the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
- In order to register a group of believers, the representative of the group (Art. 13) must submit an application to the agencies mentioned in Article 4 of the city or district where the group is located in accordance with the form determined by the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
- The registration agencies shall register the society or groups within one month, or inform the initiators of the denial of the registration.
- The registration agencies shall be informed on the composition of the society, as well as on their executive and accounting bodies and on the clergy, within the period and in accordance with the forms determined by the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
- For the satisfaction of their religious needs, the believers who have formed a religious society may receive from the district or city Soviet, under a contract, free of charge, special prayer buildings and objects intended exclusively for the cult. Besides that the believers who have formed a religious society or group of believers may use for prayer meetings other premises left to them by private persons or local soviets on lease. Such premises shall be subject to all regulations provided for in the present law relating to prayer buildings; the contracts for the use of such premises shall be concluded by individual believers on their personal responsibility. Such premises shall be subject to technical and sanitary regulations. A religious society or group of believers may use only one prayer building or [complex of] premises.
- Individual members of the executive organs of religious societies or representatives of groups of believers may make contractual agreements hiring persons to fulfil various jobs connected with guarding, repairing or procuring church property or material necessary for its preservation. [paraphrased] Such contracts may not include any commercial or industrial operations, even if related to the church, e.g. leasing of candle-producing plants or printing shops for the production of religious prayer books.
- For each general assembly of a religious society or group of believers, permission shall be obtained: in cities from committees for religious matters of the city soviets, and in rural areas from the executive committees of the district.
Article 17 banned churches from being used for activities beyond worship, thereby outlawing parish libraries, organized religious education, prayer meetings for women and young people, religious study groups and sewing circles.
- Teaching of any kind of the religious cult in schools, boarding schools, or preschool establishments maintained by the State, public institutions or private persons is prohibited. Such teaching may be given exclusively in religious courses created by the citizens of the USSR with the special permission of the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
- The clergy and other ministers of religion may operate only in the area of residence of members of the religious association by which they are employed and in the area of the temple where they serve. Clergymen regularly serving two or more religious associations may minister only in the areas of residence of the members of the given religious communities.
According to Jennifer Wynot, priests were forbidden from living in cities.
- The religious societies and groups of believers may organize local, All-Russian or All-Union religious conventions or conferences by special permission issued separately for each case by:
- a) the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters of the Council of Ministers if an All-Russian or All-Union convention or congress on the territory of the RSFSR is supposed to be convoked.
- b) the local Committee for Religious Matters, if a local convention is supposed to be convoked. The permission for convocation of republican conventions and conferences shall be granted by the Committee for Religious Matters of the appropriate republic.
- All the property necessary for the performance of the religious rite, both that contractually leased to the believers forming the religious society, and that newly acquired or donated for the use in religious cult, is a nationalized property and is listed in the files of the local government organs.
- Prayer buildings and religious objects shall be leased to believers forming religious associations for use by the Committee for Religious Matters at the city or district soviet.
- The templesTempleA temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
and all the cult utensils within them are handed over for the use of believers forming the religious society, on conditions stated in the agreement concluded by the religious society with a representative of the local government. - The agreement must state that the persons taking over the building and its contents for religious use, pledge:
- a) to preserve and protect them as state property entrusted to them;
- b) to carry out all necessary repairs and to fulfill all financial obligations connected with the rental and use of the property e.g. for the heating, insurance, guarding, payment of taxes, special collections, etc.;
- c) to use all these properties only for the purpose of satisfying religious needs;
- d) to repay to the government the costs of any damaged or lost goods;
- e) to keep a register of all the belongings of the given temple, entering therein all additionally obtained (whether by purchase, personal donations, or receipt from other churches) objects of the religious rite… objects falling into disuse through wear and tear must be stricken out of the register informing the local government organ and receiving permission from the same to do so.
- f) official representatives of the local governments to be permitted by the parish executive to inspect the property and all its contents at all times except during the performance of the religious rite.
- All local residents belonging to the same faith may add their names to those who have already signed the lease agreement, thereby obtaining equal right with the former in administering over the properties…
- Every signatory may remove his/her signature at a later date, departing from the religious community. This however does not free him/her from the responsibility for the state of the property and its contents up to the moment of his/her resignation.
- Prayer buildings shall be subject to compulsory fire insuranceProperty insuranceProperty insurance provides protection against most risks to property, such as fire, theft and some weather damage. This includes specialized forms of insurance such as fire insurance, flood insurance, earthquake insurance, home insurance or boiler insurance. Property is insured in two main...
for the benefit of the appropriate local government at the expense of the persons who signed the contract. In case of fire, the insurance payment may be used for the reconstruction of the prayer building destroyed by fire, or upon decision of the appropriate local government for special and cultural needs of a given locality in full accordance with the Decree of 24 August 1925 on the Utilization of Insurance Payments Acquired for Prayer Buildings Destroyed by Fire. - If there are not persons who wish to use a prayer building for the satisfaction of religious needs under the conditions provided for in Articles 27–33, the city or district soviet puts up a notice of this fact on the doors of the prayer building.
- The transfer of a prayer building leased for the use of believers for other purposes (liquidation of the prayer building) may take place only according to a decision of the Council of Ministers of the autonomous republic or oblast which must be supported by reasons, in a case where the building is needed for government or public purposes. The believers who formed the religious society shall be informed regarding such decision.
- Lease agreements regarding… houses used for religious rites can be annulled ahead of time by court action.
- Only the pre-CRA authority may close a temple by the request of the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republicAutonomous republics of the Soviet UnionAutonomous Soviet Socialist Republics of the Soviet Union were administrative units created for certain nations. The ASSRs had a status lower than the union republics of the Soviet Union, but higher than the autonomous oblasts and the autonomous okrugs....
, a province or a city (in the cases of MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and LeningradLeningradLeningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
) government. - Should a temple be closed, its contents are distributed thus:
- a) all goods made of precious metals and containing precious or semi-precious stones go to the local government financial organs or the Ministry of Culture;
- b) all objects of historical and special artistic value for the Ministry of Culture;
- c) other objects (iconsIconAn icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, from Eastern Christianity and in certain Eastern Catholic churches...
, clergy vestmentsReligious clothing-Christianity:Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religions, especially the Latin Rite and other Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutheran Churches...
, etc.) having special significance for the performance of the rite are given to believers for transfer to other, active, places of worship of the same faith…; - d)…
- e) money, incense, candles, oil, wine, wax, firewood and coal remain with the religious society, should the latter remain in existence after the closure of the temple.
- Prayer buildings and wayside shrines subject to liquidation, which are registered in special local agencies for State funds, may be transferred for use free of charge to proper Executive Committees or city soviets under the condition that they will be continuously considered as nationalized property and their use for other purposes than stipulated may not take place without the consent of the Minister of Finance.
- When the religious association does not observe the terms of the contract or orders of the Committee for Religious Matters (on registration, repair, etc.) the contract may be annulled. The contract may also be annulled upon the presentation of lower executive committees by the Council of Ministers of the autonomous republic, oblastOblastOblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
, etc.. - When the decision of the authorities mentioned in Article 43 is appealed to the Council of Ministers within two weeks, the prayer buildings and property may actually be taken from the believers only after the final decisions of the Council.
- The construction of a new prayer building may take place upon request of religious societies under the observance of the general regulations pertaining to construction and technical rules as well as the special conditions stipulated by the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
- Should the temple, owing to its age, become a hazard to the believers using it, the executive committee of the local government has the right to propose to the parish executive organ to discontinue the building’s use for religious purposes until an inspection by a technical commission.
- The technical inspection commission formed by the local government is to include a representative of the religious society in question.
- The conclusion of the commission is final and its fulfilment is obligatory.
- The commission’s report is to state whether the building must be demolished or repaired. In the latter case the report is to detail the necessary repairs and the time needed for their conclusion.
- In the case of the believers’ refusal to carry out the required repairs, the agreement with the religious society on the lease of the property is nullified by the pre-CRA authority…
- The pre-CRA authority also annuls the contract with the society if the commission concludes that the building must be wrecked.
- The members of the groups of believers and religious societies may pool money in the prayer building or premises and outside it by voluntary collections and donations, but only among the members of the given religious association and only for the purpose of covering the expenses for the maintenance of prayer building or premises and religious property, and for the salary of the clergy and activities of the religious bodies.
- Religious services take place in the temples without any express information to the effect of any local government organs. Local governments must be informed in advance, should a religious service take place in a building other than those officially assigned for such use.
This meant that they had to get advanced permission.
- No religious rites may be performed in any state, public or co-operative institutions and enterprises. Neither may there be any religious symbols displayed in such buildings. This ban does not extend to special rites performed by request of a dying or gravely ill person, being in hospital or prison, if these rites are performed in special isolated rooms. Neither does the band extend to cemeteries and crematoria.
- A special permission [granted] for each case separately by the Committee for Religious Matters is required for the performance of religious processions as well as the performance of religious rites in the open air. An application for such permission must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the ceremony. Such permission is not required for religious services connected with funerals.
- No special permission is required for processions around the church as a part of the religious service, as long as they do not interfere with the traffic.
- All other religious processions and all performances of religious rites outside the regular cult building require special permission of the local government in each particular case.
- The registration agencies of religious associations (Art. 6) submit data to the Committee for Religious Matters at the city and district soviets in accordance with the forms and within the period established by the Permanent Committee for Religious Matters at the Council of Ministers.
Legislation passed in 1929 also forbade clergy or monastics from wearing religious garb in public. Islamic courts in Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
that interpreted Shariah were fully eliminated after this legislation in 1929.
Supervision over the Fulfillment of Legislation on Religious Cults of the USSR
This legislation, drafted in 1961 during the height of a renewal persecution under Nikita KhrushchevNikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
, was designed to assist the anti-religious campaign especially with regard to the massive number of church closures that were conducted. It gave the state tight control over religious practices.
Instruction on the Application of the Legislation on Religious Cults.
Approved on 16 March 1961:
I General
- [Right to believe]
- Definition of a religious society. See LRA, Art. 3.
- Believers forming a religious association [society or group] may:
- a) observe religious rites, organize worship meetings as required by the given cult;
- b) hire or elect clergymen and other personnel necessary for the observance of the cult;
- c) use a house for prayer and other cult utensils;
- d) collect voluntary donations within the temple for the support of the clergy, the prayer house, its property and the executive organs of religious associations.
- On the open elections of the executive organs. The same as in the Laws on Religious Associations. See below.
- The Council on the Russian Orthodox ChurchRussian Orthodox ChurchThe Russian Orthodox Church or, alternatively, the Moscow Patriarchate The ROC is often said to be the largest of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the world; including all the autocephalous churches under its umbrella, its adherents number over 150 million worldwide—about half of the 300 million...
Affairs (CROCA), the Council on Religious Cults (CRC), their local plenipotentiaries and local government organs must carry out strict supervision that the constitutional rights of believers and non-believers are observed, that no administrative methods are used in antireligious struggle, no administrative interference in the activities of a religious association, rudeness towards the clergy and insults of believers feelings.
II The Activities of the Clergy and the Religious Associations must correspond to the following demands
- Free performance of religious rites is warranted as long as it does not disturb public order and is not accompanied by acts infringing on the rights of Soviet citizens. Otherwise, organs of national government may take any measures deemed necessary to restore public order and security.
- Religious associations and clergy may not:
- a) use religious services for political pronouncements, contradicting the interests of Soviet society;
- b) urge the believers to abstain from fulfilling their citizens’ duties;
- c) carry on propaganda aimed at tearing the believers away from active participation in the state, and the cultural and socio-political life of the country;
- d) perform religious rites and ceremonies in the state, public and cooperative institutions and enterprises
An exception was made for the sick and dying.
- Religious associations and the clergy may not engage in any activities, except those aimed at satisfying believers’ needs.
- Meeting and processions. Same as in LRA.
- Religious centres, religious associations and the clergy may not:
- a) organize special groups, etc. – as in LRA below;
- b) organize pilgrimages to the so-called ‘holy places’, perform fraudulent actions aimed at raising superstitions in the masses of population in order to derive some kind of benefits (declaration of all sorts of miracles, e.g. curing of illness, prophecies, etc.);
- c) make any compulsory collections or imposing dues on believers for the support of religious associations or other purposes;
- d) apply any forms of compulsion of punishment to believers.
- Religious centres, diocesan administrations and other religious organs are forbidden to:
- a) use their resources and funds for charity or for the support of churches and monasteries, not supported by the population as it drifts away from religion, or for any other needs except for the covering of expenses required for the sustenance of the organs themselves;
- b) convoke religious congresses and councils, establish theological schools, publish religious literature, without the express permission each time of the Council in Religious Cults or the Council for the Russian Orthodox Church Affairs.
- (& 13). Technicalities, repeated in LRA (CRA’s inspections, etc.).
III. Supervision over the fulfilment of the Legislation on Cults
- Technical.
- On the discovery of breaches of the Legislation on Cults in the activities of a religious association or a clergyman, state of organs and official of the CROCA/CRC musk ask the said clergyman or religious association’s executive organ to remove the breaches by a certain date. Should the said bodies discontinue to disregard the rules and refuse to do otherwise, the said government organs must raise the question of depriving the clergyman or the religious association of registration… and, in special circumstances, bring the guilty ones to justice.
- Technical: on keeping registers, listing and reporting…
- On the duty of local CROC/CRC officials to inform the central offices on all details of local religious life, breaches of legislation by the church organs, etc.
IV. Order and Procedures regarding Registration of Religious Associations, Opening and Closing of Prayer Houses
- No religious association may begin its functioning without first registering with the organs of the state government.
- Technicalities of the procedure. Basically the same as in LRA
- The executive committee of the local government addresses the believers’ petition with its resolution attached to the provincial government or to the Council of Ministers of the given autonomous republic, adding to it all the necessary information as established by the CROCA/CRC.
- On the instruction of the provincial government… the local official of the CROCA/CRC reviews the believers’ petition and checks its soundness.
- The Provincial Government or Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic makes the decision to register or not to register the petitioners as a religious association.
- Religious societies and groups of believers belonging to the sects the teaching and character of activities whereof is of an anti-state and fanatical nature, may not be registered. To these belong: The Jehovah’s Witnesses, Pentecostals, the True Orthodox Christians, the True Orthodox Church, the Adventist-Reformists, Murashkovites, etc. (The Ukrainian Catholic rite was also outlawed.)
- Religious associations may be deprived of registration in cases of breaking the Soviet legislation on religious cults. The Procedure is the same as in the LRA below, except that the registration is revoked by local government rather than by the CRA or its predecessors.
- Prayer houses may be closed in the following cases:
- a) if the religious association using it has been deprived of registration;
- b) if the building has to be demolished owing to the reconstruction of the area or owing to the dilapidated state of the building as confirmed by a technical inspection document and co-ordinated with the local official of the CROCA/CRC.
- No Orthodox, Old BelieversOld BelieversIn the context of Russian Orthodox church history, the Old Believers separated after 1666 from the official Russian Orthodox Church as a protest against church reforms introduced by Patriarch Nikon between 1652–66...
, Armenian-GregorianArmenian Apostolic ChurchThe Armenian Apostolic Church is the world's oldest National Church, is part of Oriental Orthodoxy, and is one of the most ancient Christian communities. Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion in 301 AD, in establishing this church...
, Roman Catholic, LutheranLutheranismLutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
churches, MuslimMuslimA Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
mosquesMosqueA mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
, JewishJewsThe Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
synagoguesSynagogueA synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, sectarianSectarianismSectarianism, according to one definition, is bigotry, discrimination or hatred arising from attaching importance to perceived differences between subdivisions within a group, such as between different denominations of a religion, class, regional or factions of a political movement.The ideological...
places of worship, BuddhistBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
temples, actively in use by their religious societies may be closed without the express permission of the provincial government or Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic, co-ordinated with the central CROCA/CRC. - Registration and de-registration of clergy. The same as in LRA.
- Provincial governments and their equivalents may order a limitation on tolling church bells, should this become necessary and be supported by the local population.
V. Rules on the Use of Objects (Utensils) of the Cult
Basically the same as in LRA. A lesser role is given to the CROCA/CRC; a greater to local governments.
CROCA and CRC were amalgamated in 1965 to form the Council for Religious Affairs
Council for Religious Affairs
The Council for Religious Affairs was a government council in the Soviet Union that dealt with religious activity in the country. It was founded in 1965 though the union of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults...
(CRA). CROCA and CRC were originally created by Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
during the second world war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
(1939–1945) as liaison bodies between religion and the government. Under Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
this function began to evolve into dictatorial bodies that exerted control over religious activities in the country. Articles 24–26 were ambiguous enough, that in practice they could be effectively used in order to close churches on a wide scale, as occurred under Khrushchev. The meagre protection that they offered (such as in article 26) were eliminated in 1975.
Articles 6, 7, 10 and 11 could also be used. Choral singing, processions, church bells and other normal functions of churches could be interpreted as ‘disturbing public order’ and prohibited.
Article 7a–c could be used by the state, which could apply it to any homily or sermon it didn’t like. For example, Bishop Khrizostom of Kursk
Kursk
Kursk is a city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur, Tuskar, and Seym Rivers. The area around Kursk was site of a turning point in the Russian-German struggle during World War II and the site of the largest tank battle in history...
criticized ‘scientific atheism’ and claimed that science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
also needed faith
Faith
Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a belief that is not based on proof. In religion, faith is a belief in a transcendent reality, a religious teacher, a set of teachings or a Supreme Being. Generally speaking, it is offered as a means by which the truth of the proposition,...
as a motivation for its development, and as a result the bishop lost his position in the Department of External Ecclesiastical Relations and was moved to the Urals in 1984. Monks who preached about concentrating on the spiritual life and disregarding the temptations of the material world could be interpreted as ‘propaganda aimed at tearing believers away from active participation in the state’. Fr Amvrossi was harassed and expelled twice in 1976 as a result of such homilies
Homily
A homily is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture. In Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Churches, a homily is usually given during Mass at the end of the Liturgy of the Word...
. Before this legislation had taken effect, believers who preached against atheism could be arrested for making 'political' sermons
Sermo
Sermo is an online community for physicians founded in 2006 by Daniel Palestrant. Open to only M.D.s and D.O.s in the United States, Sermo is a place for physicians to post observations and questions about clinical issues and hear other doctors' opinions....
that were interpreted as an attack on state ideology.
Article 10b in practice forbade priests from organizing pilgrimages
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
, and from making claims of the miraculous
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
. Priests were de-registered and even imprisoned for telling their parishioners about miracles. For example, Fr Sergi Zheludkov lost his registration in the 1960s for taking some of his parishioners to see supposed miraculous icon renewals (where an icon that is dark and covered with soot suddenly begin to shine again as though new).
Article 11, made it such that it was not the Church that decided to have a church council or how many theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
colleges were needed for its spiritual needs but rather it was the government that decided.
Legislation in this year also gave the state control of financial activities of religious institutions and legally separated priests from control of parishes. A further law in 1962 gave the state control of all baptisms
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
, marriages
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
, burial services and other religious rites.
Provisions on the Council for Religious Affairs
In 1965 the Council for Religious AffairsCouncil for Religious Affairs
The Council for Religious Affairs was a government council in the Soviet Union that dealt with religious activity in the country. It was founded in 1965 though the union of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults...
(CRA) of the Council of Ministers was created from the amalgamation of CROCA and CRC. This organization inherited the role of dictatorial control over religious life in the country and it used whatever means it could in order to disrupt or put down religious activities. Its legal mandate was strengthened in the 1975 amendments to the LRA, although many of the powers that it would be officially given were things that it had already effectively been using (from its predecessors) since Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
.
- The CRA… has been formed for the implementation of the policies of the Soviet GovernmentGovernment of the Soviet UnionThe Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was the de jure government comprising the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union from 1946 until 1991....
regarding religions. - The main functions of the CRA are:
- a) to make sure that the constitutional and all other legal provisions regarding Church-State relations are observed;
- b) to study and draw conclusions regarding the practice of the laws on religious cults, to draft new laws and decrees in this sphere…;
- c) to inform the Soviet Government on the activities of religious organizations;
- d) to help religious organizations in making international contacts, in participating in the struggle for peacePeacePeace is a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violent conflict. Commonly understood as the absence of hostility, peace also suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the...
and strengthening friendship between nations.
- The CRA’s duties include:
- a) assuring the realization of the constitutional right of Soviet citizens to profess a religion or not to profess any;
- b) supervision over the correct fulfillment of the laws on religion by religious organization and clergy;
- c) liaison functions between the religious organization and the Soviet Government on questions needing a governmental decision;
- d) keeping a register of all religious associations prayer houses and buildings;
- e) study and decision-making regarding questions arising out of activities of religious organizations in the USSR;
- f) checking the application of the laws on religion by central and local organizations;
- g) issuing resolutions on the union republican draft laws relating to religion;
- h) receipt of information and materials on religion from the central and local government organs.
- The CRA has the right to:
- a) make decisions on the registration or de-registration of religious associations, on the opening and closing of temples and prayer houses;
- b) check the activities of religious organizations in regard to their observance of Soviet laws on religion; its orders to discontinue any abuses of the laws must be met without fail;
- c) raise the question of initiating penal administrative or criminal procedure against those in breach of the laws on religion
- d) clarify questions relating to the laws on religion to central and local government organs and other Soviet organizations;
- e) suggest to local and higher administrative organs abolition of instructions that contradict Soviet laws on religion.
- Structure and staffing of the CRA
- The CRA of the Soviet Council of Ministers at its meetings studies questions related to the practical application of the Soviet religious policies… makes decisions on the registration and de-registration of religious temples and prayer houses … [and regarding all the other issues enumerated in article 1-5]
- The CRA has its plenipotentiary officials in each union and autonomous republic and in every province, subordinate to the central CRA.
- The local CRA official is responsible for all the actions on the local level, stipulated in the above articles. Has the same controlling powers over local church organizations and bishops as, in principle, the central CRA Office has over the whole Church. He also informs the CRA central office on all details of life and activities of local churches and clergy.
- More details of the kind enumerated under No. 9
- (& 12). Additional details on the relationship between the local CRA and local governments, and on the CRA stamp.
Adopted on 8 December 1965, confirmed on 10 May 1966
23 June 1975, Amendments to 1929 Laws on Religious Associations
The 1929 legislation on religious associations was amended in 1975. The most prominent difference was the status of the Council for Religious AffairsCouncil for Religious Affairs
The Council for Religious Affairs was a government council in the Soviet Union that dealt with religious activity in the country. It was founded in 1965 though the union of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults...
(created in 1965), which was given effective legal control and interference in the spiritual life of religious organizations. The amendments are listed below.
- A religious society or a group of believers may begin to function only after the Council for Religious Affairs… has made a decision regarding the registration of the society or group. The decision on the registration of a religious society or a group or believers and on the establishment of a prayer house is made by the Council… on the recommendations of the Councils of Ministers if autonomous republics or the executive committees of regional, provincial or city (MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
and LeningradLeningradLeningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
) soviets of workers’ deputies. - In order to register a religious society its founders, consisting of at least twenty persons, address a petition to the executive committee of the district or city soviet… requesting the registration of the society and the opening of a prayer house… The Soviet addresses the received petition of the believers with its resolution to the Council of Ministers of the autonomous republic, [or] the executive committee of the regional, provincial, city (Moscow and Leningrad) soviet…
- In order to effect the registration of the group, the petition signed by all the believers of the given group is submitted to the executive committee of the district or urban soviet… which forwards this petitions with its resolution attached to the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic, to the executive committee of a regional, provincial or ([in the cases of] Moscow and Leningrad) city soviet…
- The Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic, or the executive committee of a regional, provincial or city (Moscow and Leningrad [only]) soviet… having received the materials regarding the registration of a society or group of believers, is to complete their scrutiny within one month and then forward them with its representation to the Council for Religious Affairs of the USSR Council of Ministers for authorization. The Council for Religious Affairs… studies the materials… and makes the decision whether to register or to refuse to register the… group, and informs the latter on its decision.
According to Yakunin and Regelson, there was no time limit for when it had to make a decision and this legal ambiguity was abused by the CRA.
- The Council for Religious Affairs keeps a register of all religious associations, houses of prayer and [other church] buildings… [and] establishes the order of submission of data on religious societies or groups of believers, their executive and auditing organs and the clergy.
- For the satisfaction of religious needs the believers making up a religious society may, on the decision of the Council for Religious Affairs… receive a special building for prayer, free of charge, on the conditions… stipulated in the agreement concluded between the religious society and a legitimate representative of the executive committee of the district or urban soviet. In additions, believers comprising a religious society or a group of believers may use for their communal prayer other structures on lease holding conditions placed at their disposal by individual persons or executive committees of district or urban soviets… These structures are subject to all the regulations of the legislation in force regarding house of prayer… Moreover, these structures must correspond to the regular building and sanitary safety regulations. A religious society or group of believers may used only one house of prayer.
- General meetings (other than prayer meetings) of religious societies and groups of believers may take place [only] on the permission of the executive committee of the district or urban soviet…
- No religious doctrines whatsoever may be taught in educational institutions. The teaching of religion is permitted in theological schools only, which may be established in accordance with the existing regulations.
- Religious societies and groups of believers may convoke religious congresses and conferences only with the express permission of the Council for Religious Affairs in each particular case. Religious centres, spiritual administrations and other religious organizations elected at such congresses and conferences have administrative jurisdiction only over the religious (canonical) activities of religious associations. They are supported by the contributions of religious associations collected exclusively by means of voluntary donations. Religious centres and diocesan administration have the right to produce church-plate and [other] objects of the religious cult, and to sell the same to societies of believers. [They also have the right] to obtain means of transportation, to rent, build and purchase buildings for their own needs in accordance with the legally established order.
- Houses of prayer and religious belongings are transferred to the believers comprising a religious society for use on conditions and in the order established in the agreement concluded between the religious society and a plenipotentiary representative of the executive committee of a district or urban soviet…
- Houses of religion must be insured at the cost of the persons signing the agreement [on the behalf of the religious society][but] in favour of the executive committee of that district or urban soviet… on whose territory the structure is situation. The insurance payments for prayer houses destroyed by fire and are used, in accordance with the decisions of the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic or the executive committee of a regional, provincial or city (Moscow and Leningrad [alone]) soviet… coordinated with the Council for Religious Affairs, for the reconstruction of the ruin buildings or for the cultural needs of the district or town in which the ruined prayer house was situated.
- If the believers do not submit a petition to lease to them for religious purposes a building and its belongings necessary for the religious cult… the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic or the executive committee of a regional, provincial or city (Moscow and Leningrad [alone]) soviet… decides on the subsequent use o the prayer house and all its belongings in accordance with articles 40 and 41 of this enactment.
- A cult building used by believers may be reassigned for other needs exclusively by a decision according to a decision o the Council of Ministers of the autonomous republic or oblast which must be supported by reasons, in a case where the building is needed for government or public purposes. The believers who formed the religious society shall be informed regarding such decision.
This allowed prayer houses to be closed down and reassigned for public purposes.
- Prayer houses subject to closure which are not under state protection as cultural monuments may be… rebuilt for other uses or demolished only by the decision of the Council for Religious Affairs… on the representation from the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]…
- Religious associations may be deprived of registration if they transgress the legislation on cults.
Deregistration of religious associations is enacted by the Council for Religious Affairs… on the representation from the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]…
- In the case of non-observance by the religious association of the agreement on the use of the prayer house or cult belongings the Council for Religious Affairs… has the right to annul the agreement on a representation from the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]…
- On the request of religious societies and with the permission of the Council for Religious Affairs… on the representation from the Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]… believers may be permitted in individual cases to build new prayer houses out of their own resources.
- Religious societies and members of groups of believers may voluntarily pool their resources together and solicit voluntary collections inside the prayer house among members of the given religious association for purposes connected with the maintenance of the building, [the purchase and upkeep] of the cult belongings, the hiring of the clergy, and support of the executive organs.
- Religious processions, the performance of religious ceremonies in the open air, as well as in apartments and houses of believers, may take place only by the express permission in each individual case from the executive committee of the regional or urban soviet… Petitions for permissions [for the above ceremonies]… must be submitted at least two weeks prior to the date [of the desired action]… Religious ceremonies in private residences requested by dying or very seriously ill believers may be performed without the [above] permission or request [of the same]…
- The Council of Ministers of an autonomous republic [etc.]… reports all information on religious associations to the CRA… in accordance with the established order.
Criminal Code of the USSR, 1 January 1979
Article 142The breaking of the laws on the separation of Church and State, and Schools and Church – is punishable by correctional labour
Penal labour
Penal labour is a form of unfree labour in which prisoners perform work, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence which involve penal labour include penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour...
for up to one year, or by a fine of up to fifty roubles… repeat offenders are to be imprisoned for up to three years.
Article 143
The hindrance of prevention of the fulfillment of religious functions, so far as they do not harm the social order or infringe upon individual rights – is punishable by correctional labour for up to six months by a public reprimand.
Article 142 could only be applied to believers who violated the law, while article 143 was for non-believers. This meant that in the unlikely scenario that a group of religious believers who sued a Soviet official, and an even less likely scenario of them winning the case, the guilty administrator would likely only have to face a public reprimand. No matter how many times such an official could be found guilty, the most he could be punished would be six months or correctional labour, while believers could face up to three years imprisonment.
Article 190
The systematic distribution of false information, harmful to the Soviet government, or to the social order, whether in oral, written, or any other form – is punishable by imprisonment for up to three years, or by correctional work for up to one year, or by a fine up to 100 roubles.
This included homilies condemning religious persecutions.
Article 199
… the unlicensed construction of a dwelling or an addition – is punishable by correctional work for a period of 6 months to one year with a confiscation of the construction or addition.
This punished the expansion of a church without government authorization.
Article 277
Organizations or the leadership of a group, which function under the guise of fulfilling religious duties, that are harmful, or that enlist other citizens into harmful activities by threat of expulsion from the religious group, or attempt to enlist or force others to enlist minors into the group – is punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, or banishment for up to five years with or without confiscation of property…
According to Pospielovsky, this was interpreted to prohibit any missionary work, and threatened with imprisonment any person who attracted converts or who strengthened religious convictions. This also allowed for the punishment of clergymen who tried to invoke spiritual discipline upon those under them who exhibited immoral or spiritually demoralizing behaviour.
Other laws not mentioned included prohibitions of teaching religion to children under the age of 18, requirements to register all baptisms and religious rites with the state, as well as forbidding of priests to be on church councils.
See also
- BezbozhnikBezbozhnikBezbozhnik was a monthly anti-religious and atheistic satirical magazine, published in the Soviet Union between 1922 and 1941 by the Society of the Godless. Between 1923 and 1931, there was also a daily newspaper called Bezbozhnik u Stanka...
- Council for Religious AffairsCouncil for Religious AffairsThe Council for Religious Affairs was a government council in the Soviet Union that dealt with religious activity in the country. It was founded in 1965 though the union of the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults...
- Culture of the Soviet UnionCulture of the Soviet UnionThe Culture of the Soviet Union passed through several stages during the 69 year existence of the Soviet Union. It was contributed by people of various nationalities from every of 15 union republics, although the majority of them were Russians...
- Demographics of the Soviet UnionDemographics of the Soviet UnionAccording to data from the 1989 Soviet census, the population of the Soviet Union was 70% East Slavs, 12% Turkic peoples, and all other ethnic groups below 10%. Alongside the atheist majority of 60% there were sizable minorities of Russian Orthodox followers and Muslims According to data from the...
- Persecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XIIPersecutions of the Catholic Church and Pius XIIPersecutions against the Catholic Church took place in virtually all the years of the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, especially after World War II in Eastern Europe, the USSR and the People's Republic of China...
- Persecution of Christians in the Soviet UnionPersecution of Christians in the Soviet UnionThe history of Christianity in the Soviet Union was not limited to repression and secularization. Soviet policy toward religion was based on the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which made atheism the official doctrine of the Soviet Union...
- Persecution of Christians in Warsaw Pact countriesPersecution of Christians in Warsaw Pact countriesBefore and after the October Revolution of November 7, 1917 there was a movement within the Soviet Union to unite all of the people of the world under Communist rule . This included the Eastern European bloc countries as well as the Balkan States...
- Persecution of Muslims in the former USSR
- Red TerrorRed TerrorThe Red Terror in Soviet Russia was the campaign of mass arrests and executions conducted by the Bolshevik government. In Soviet historiography, the Red Terror is described as having been officially announced on September 2, 1918 by Yakov Sverdlov and ended about October 1918...
- Religion in RussiaReligion in RussiaThere are number of religions with adherents in Russia. The preamble to the 1997 law regulating religious organizations names Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism as important in Russian history...
- Religion in the Soviet UnionReligion in the Soviet UnionThe Soviet Union was the first state to have as an ideological objective the elimination of religion and its replacement with atheism. To that end, the communist regime confiscated religious property, ridiculed religion, harassed believers, and propagated atheism in schools...
- Society of the Godless
- Soviet Orientalist studies in IslamSoviet Orientalist studies in IslamSoviet Orientalist studies in Islam are academic discourses by Soviet Marxist theoreticians about Islam, its origins and development based on Historical materialism and Muslims. The central question of this discourse was how Muslim society would fit into the general development of human history....
- State atheismState atheismState atheism is the official "promotion of atheism" by a government, sometimes combined with active suppression of religious freedom and practice...
- Terrible TriangleTerrible TriangleTerrible Triangle was a term used by Pope Pius XI for the simultaneous persecution of Christians in general and the Catholic Church in particular in three countries: the Soviet Union, Mexico, and Spain. These events are said to have influenced his position on Communism throughout his pontificate...
- USSR anti-religious campaign (1917–1921)USSR Anti-Religious Campaign (1917–1921)In the beginning of the USSR, a campaign began to be done to make the state atheist by removing the influence of all religion, and the Russian Orthodox church especially, from Soviet society from the earliest days after the revolution in 1917, continuing until the fall of the USSR in 1991...
- USSR anti-religious campaign (1921–1928)USSR Anti-Religious Campaign (1921–1928)The Soviet government had begun an anti-religious campaign against believers after the revolution in 1917. The elimination of all religion and its replacement with atheism supported with a materialist world view was a fundamental ideological goal of the state. To this end the state conducted...
- USSR anti-religious campaign (1928–1941)USSR Anti-Religious Campaign (1928–1941)The USSR anti-religious campaign of 1928–1941 was a new phase of anti-religious persecution in the Soviet Union The campaign began in 1929, with the drafting of new legislation that severely prohibited religious activities and called for a heightened attack on religion in order to further...
- USSR anti-religious campaign (1958–1964)USSR Anti-Religious Campaign (1958–1964)During a more tolerant period towards religion from 1941 until the late 1950s in the Soviet Union, the church grew in stature and membership. This provoked concern by the Soviet government under Nikita Khrushchev, which decided in the late 1950s to undertake a new campaign to quell religion in...
- USSR anti-religious campaign (1970s–1990)USSR Anti-Religious Campaign (1970s–1990)A new and more aggressive phase of anti-religious persecution in the Soviet Union began in the mid 1970s after a more tolerant period following Nikita Khrushchev's downfall in 1964.Yuri Andropov headed the campaign in the 1970s when it began to rise....
Sources
Books|last=Anderson |first=John |title=Religion, State and Politics in the Soviet Union and Successor States |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
|location=Cambridge }} |last=Davis |first=Nathaniel |title=A Long Walk to Church: A Contemporary History of Russian Orthodoxy |year=2003 |publisher=Westview
Westview Press
Westview Press is an American publishing house. It publishes textbooks and scholarly works for an academic audience.Westview was founded in 1975 in Boulder, Colorado by Fred Praeger. The press was sold in 1991 to SCS Communications. HarperCollins acquired the company in 1995. Since 1998, it has...
|location= |page=8 }} |last=Kolarz |first=Walter |title=Religion in the Soviet Union |year=1961 |publisher=St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
|location=New York }} |last=Lane |first=Christel |title=Christian Religion in the Soviet Union: A Sociological Study |year=1978 |publisher=University of New York
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
|location=New York }} |last=Pospielovsky |first=Dimitry V. |title=A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory, and Practice, and the Believer | volume=1: "A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Anti-Religious Policies" |year=1987 |publisher=St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press
St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
|location=New York }} |last1=Yakunin |first1=Gleb |last2=Regelson |first2=Lev |editor=Jane Ellis |title=Letters from Moscow: Religion and Human Rights in Russia |date=27 June 1976 |publisher=Keston College |location=Moscow |url=http://www.regels.org/humanright.htm }}
Bulletins, journals and magazines
|last=Anderson |first=John |title=The Council for Religious Affairs and the Shaping of Soviet Religious Policy |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=689–710 |journal=Soviet Studies |publisher=Cambridge University
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
|location=Cambridge |year=1991 }} |last=Derwinski |first=Edward |title=Religious Persecution in the Soviet Union |volume= |issue=Bulletin 86: 77+ |pages= |journal=US Department of State Bulletin |publisher=US Department of State |location=Washington |year=1986 }} |last=Dixon |first=Paul |title=Religion in the Soviet Union |volume= |issue= |pages= |journal=Workers International News |publisher= |location= |year=1945 |url=http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406.htm }} |last=Freeze |first=Gregory L. |title=Counter-Reformation in Russian Orthodoxy: Popular Response to Religious Innovation, 1922-1925 |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=305–339 |journal=Slavic Review |publisher= |location= |year=1995 }} |last=Tchepournaya |first=Olga |title=The Hidden Sphere of Religious Searches in the Soviet Union: Independent Religious Communities in Leningrad from the 1960s to the 1970s |volume=64 |issue=3 |chapter=12 |year=2003 |month=March |journal=Church History |publisher= |location= |page=377 }} |last= |first= |title=Religion in Eastern Europe |volume= |issue=86 |chapter= |year=1986 |month=March |journal=US Department of State Bulletin |publisher=US Department of State |location=Washington }} |last=Wynot |first=Jennifer |title=Monasteries without Walls: Secret Monasticism in the Soviet Union, 1928-39 |volume=71 |issue=1 |chapter=17 |year=2002 |month=March |journal=Church History |publisher= |location= |page=63 }}