The Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church at the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1943-1965) – a special body for communication between the State and the Church
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
Normalization of relations between the Church and the State during the war led to the need to create a special body to establish relations between the State and the Russian Orthodox Church. Therefore, in August 1943 the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church attached to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR was formed. G. Karpov, a former member of the Soviet KGB, was appointed the head of the new body. Managing staff of the Council was picked from a list of party nomenclature. The Council was located in Moscow, Kropotkin Street, on the second floor of the building No. 20. Soon, the number of employees of this body has increased significantly.
The order of the Council stated that it would maintain links between the Government of the USSR and the Moscow Patriarchy on matters within the competence of the Government.
Among other things, the Council was to "improve" the image of the USSR abroad. Presidents of the Council regularly hosted foreign correspondents. Each meeting was followed by reports.
The responsibilities of Presidents of the Council included regular meetings with leaders of the Church for discussions and consultations on various issues.
It is believed that the creation of a special Council for relations with the Russian Orthodox Church was due to active patriotic activities of the Orthodox Church during the Second World War, as well as to the struggle for the international leadership of the USSR in the period of 1940-1950. In this context, the Moscow Patriarchy was supposed to be a kind of tool in the foreign policy of the USSR.
The analysis of the new archival documents allows concluding that the religious policy of the Soviet State during the second half of the 1940s was determined by the external and internal political situation in the postwar period. The attitude of the Party and Government towards the Orthodox Church were determined by pragmatic interests, rather than a desire to take into account the spiritual needs of citizens.
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