The impact of Stalinism on the Church

Lenin allowed freedom of religious worship, but sought to destroy the power of the Orthodox Church in Russia

• Church lands were seized
• Births, marriages and deaths, as well as schools, were secularised
• Priests were persecuted and athiest propaganda was circulated

Stalin continued the attack on the Orthodox Church

• Religious schools were closed down and the teaching of religious creeds was forbidden
• Worship was restricted to 'registered congregations' only and many churches were physically destroyed or deconsecrated
• Between 1929 and 1940, the holy day of Sunday itself was abolished

The Terror had a significant…