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Religious and Political History of Modern Russia Historically, the predominant religion in Russia is Russian Orthodoxy, a branch of the Eastern
Orthodox Christian Church. (Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism were divided in the Great Schism of 1054.) Russiabecame a Communist totalitarian state with the revolution
of 1917. The militant atheism imposed by the government persecuted all religious beliefs. The Communists destroyed thousands
of churches (mostly Russian Orthodox); all but two Catholic parishes were liquidated, the buildings being destroyed or converted
to other uses (e.g., archives, animal stables, libraries, museums—even museums of atheism). The Soviet
Union collapsed in 1991, and the Communist Party was outlawed 1991-95. Religion in General during the Communist Period (1917-91) In the first twenty years of Communism (1917-37), Russian Orthodoxy, the predominant faith in Russia, was persecuted almost to extinction. Hundreds of thousands
of priests, sisters, and brothers were murdered by Communist government agents. The surviving remnant of Russian Orthodoxy
was allowed to exist under Communist totalitarian control to help rally the people to fight the Nazi German invasion in 1939. Some churches were allowed
to stay open if they were licensed by the Communist government, but they were very restricted in what they could do: they
could celebrate liturgies and the sacraments, but they could not teach religion, either to children or to adults. The Orthodox
Church became a highly regulated organ of the Soviet government, with all newly ordained priests and bishops becoming agents
or cooperators of the Secret Police (KGB). The sacraments of baptism and marriage, as well as funerals, were usually performed
only upon payment of substantial fees. All children were forced to learn and believe atheism as scientific truth in all levels of school and in
all youth organizations. No private schools or clubs were allowed. The harsh religious persecution and the Stalin terror (1927-52)
made parents afraid to tell their children about God. Between 1917 and 1937, more than 50 million people were murdered by KGB extermination squads or in death
camps, and 8 million people starved to death in man-made famines designed to consolidate Communist power. All land was confiscated
by the state. (Most of the pre-Revolutionary church property had not been returned to church ownership by 2002.) Within two generations, Russia became a predominantly atheistic society. When
freedom of religion was returned in 1991, fewer than 25% of the population was baptized; even today, fewer than 0.50% (one-half
of one percent) practice any faith at all. Religion
in Vladivostok before and after Communism. Before the Communist revolution,Vladivostok was
home to 36 religious parish organizations, primarily Russian Orthodox, but also Protestant, Catholic, and Buddhist. After
1922 (only five years after the Communist revolution) only one Russian Orthodox church remained in the city. Approximately
28 church buildings were destroyed, and the remainder, including Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church, were converted to
be used for other functions:
| A Lutheran
church was used as a warehouse and then as a navy museum; |
| Most Holy Mother of
God Catholic Cathedral was converted into a social club and then into the state archive, made possible by the addition of
three floors and many brick walls in the interior; |
| A Russian
Orthodox church and its cemetery (which also served as the main city cemetery) were destroyed and an amusement park and dance
hall constructed on the site; and |
| the
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition (Assumption) of the Blessed Virgin Mary was blown up on Easter Day 1937. |
The lone Russian Orthodox
Church that had been allowed to remain open was closed in the early 1960s, leaving the entire city of Vladivostok without a single church. Roman Catholic Hierarchy Reestablished inRussia. In April 1991 Pope John Paul II restored the hierarchy for the first time since 1923 by naming two new bishops
for Russia: Archbishop Thaddeus Kondrusewicz (for the European part of Russia, with center in Moscow), and Bishop Joseph Werth,
S.J. (first Apostolic Administrator of the Asian part of Russia, with center in Novosibirsk, Siberia, 4,000 miles northwest
of Vladivostok). At the time of the appointments, Vladivostok was
located in Bishop Werth's jurisdiction. Four new dioceses were established by Pope John Paul II in February 2002: - Metropolitan Archdiocese
of the Most Holy Mother of God inMoscow. Metropolitan Archbishop
Thaddeus Kondrusewicz. Serves northern European Russia. Established as an Apostolic Administration in April 1991.
- Diocese of Saint Clement in Saratov. Bishop Clemens Pickel. Serves southern European Russia. Was
separated from Moscow Apostolic Administration and established as its own Apostolic Administration in 1997.
- Diocese of the Transfiguration
of the Lord in Novosibirsk. Bishop Joseph Werth, SJ.
Serves western Siberia. Established in April 1991 as the only Apostolic Administration
for all of Asian Russia. Catholics of this region include Poles, Lithuanians, Koreans, Ukrainians, Belarusans, Russians, and
Armenians. This Apostolic Administration included the city of Vladivostok and thus
Most Holy Mother of God parish until 1997, when the new diocese of Saint Joseph was
created (see below). By 1997 about 200 parishes had been reopened in the region, and 65 priests, 50 religious sisters and
5 religious brothers from more than 10 countries worked there.
- Diocese of Saint Joseph in Irkutsk. Bishop Cyril Klimovich. Serves eastern Siberia and
the Russian Far East. Was separated from Novosibirsk Apostolic Administration in 1997 and established as its own Apostolic
Administration based in Irkutsk near southern end of Lake Baikal. This diocese is home to Vladivostok and Most Holy Mother of God Catholic Church. Geographically,
it is the largest Roman Catholic diocese in the world, almost twice as large as the continental United States. In 1997, the diocese had 22 priests, and by 2002, it had 38 priests
and 30 sisters (fromPoland, America, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Japan, India, and Russia).
Approximately 200 priests work in the four dioceses; 85 percent of them are foreign citizens, mainly Polish,
Slovakian, American, or Italian. The
Growing Church in Russia As of 2002, there were about 350 Catholic parishes in all of Russia, compared to only 2 in 1989 (one in Moscow
and one in St. Petersburg, which were kept open only because they were the property of the French government, who insisted
that they be kept open—some years there were no priests to serve in them). A two-year pre-seminary program is in place
inNovosibirsk, staffed by the Jesuits, and the Theological College of St. Thomas Aquinas (for
laity) in Moscow has been established, with affiliates in St.
Petersburg, Kalinigrad, Novosibirsk, Sartov, andOrenburg. A Catholic weekly newspaper is now published, and there are several monthly and
quarterly Catholic publications, as well as a few publishing groups (the Daughters of St. Paul have a book store in the center
of Moscow). The KANA Catholic Video Programming Center
operates in Novosibirsk (sponsored by the Jesuits), and there are two Catholic radio stations, one in St. Petersburg and one
in Moscow. Most Reverend Cyril Klimovich, D. D. Bishop Klimovich was born in Kazakhstan and
has served as assistant bishop in the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mogelov, Bylorus, which before the Russian Revolution, was the
diocese for all of Russia. He is
the bishopfor the region where Mary Mother of
God Mission society is located in the Primorye Krai region.
(With permission Fr. Myron Effing, Vladmission)
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