After communism fell, a meeting was eagerly proposed by John Paul II, but Russian Orthodoxy was itself discovering its identity. Under communism, there was therefore no possibility for a meeting with the anti-communist Catholic Church. Putin has lavished attention and money on restoring the Russian Orthodox Church to a prominent place in Russian life Stalin re-established the state-run church when he realized religion would be useful in rallying the people against Hitler. Under him, and later Stalin, 100,000 priests were murdered. The Russian monarchy fell during the First World War, and a few years later, the church fell into Lenin’s bloody hands. It was suppressed by Peter the Great in 1721, and for nearly two centuries the Russian Orthodox Church was run by bureaucrats of the tsar. The Moscow patriarchate was established in the immediate aftermath of the fall of Constantinople in 1448. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Manage Print Subscription / Tax Receipt.
