The character of church and state relations in the historical retrospective review and the legal foundation of the social practices of the Russian Orthodox Church

In the historical context the article discusses how the changes in the relationship of the state, society and church influenced the changes in the Russian Orthodox Church resources concerned with its social activities. The author estimates highly the social activity of the 19th century, analyses the undertaken measures of the Soviet period relating to the separation of the state from the church and the ban of the church’s social activity. The paper reviews the “thaw period" policy during the Great Patriotic War, and considers the antireligious propaganda of the second half of the 20th century and the revival of the best religious traditions starting from the beginning of the 1990s.