Relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government in the 1940s - at beginning of the 21st century

The Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945, entailed major changes in social and political context of Russian history that has caused some transformations in Soviet state policy towards Russian Orthodox Church. That was expressed in general liberalization of Church life: the Russian patriarchate had been restored, Russian temples, monasteries, ecclesiastical academes, and seminaries were re-opened. In 1950s, aggressive voluntarism replaced liberalism in relationship between the Church and the Soviet regime. Progressive dynamics in relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government appeared in post-Soviet time of native history. Serious social problems of the 1990s caused resurrection of sincere public attention to Christianity, the religion that is able to hold successfully a personality's moral, spiritual, and emotional sphere integrity. Entry into legal force the federal law named “On Freedom of Religion” (Oct. 25, 1990), and issuing several regulatory acts by the Russian Orthodox Church, both had good effect for interactions between the Church and the governmental power concerning education, upbringing, enlightenment. At the beginning of the 21st century, Russia saw true revival of religious consciousness and Church life, revitalization of common system of religious education, inclusion of theological academic disciplines into study programs of secular educational institutions, expansion of the Orthodox culture with means of cultural institutions through regular museum exhibitions devoted to religious subjects. That allows the author of the paper to talk about Renaissance of the Orthodoxy today's Russia, about stabilization in relationships between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian government.