Puyda R. Church and religious processes in the western regions of the USSR in the second half of the 1960s – first half of the 1980s: regional features

The study found that the Soviet state's policy toward religious organizations during the second half of the twentieth century, with the exception of a few periods, was a continuous attack by the authorities on spiritual institutions in order to limit or prohibit their functioning. A striking example in this context is the western Ukrainian regions. It is shown that one of the first innovations of the CPSU Central Committee in the church-religious sphere in the mid-1960s was a change in the structure of state bodies controlling the religious sphere: the Council for the ROC and the Council for Religious Cults were reorganized into a single body. affairs of religions. Due to this structure, an atheistic worldview spread in society, and the basic principles of church and religious policy were formed. In the conditions of the «imminent victory of communism», the church was treated by the authorities as a relic, one of the main obstacles on the way to this «victory». However, due to the displacement of many denominations common in the western Ukrainian region, the religious sphere became less controlled by the authorities. Anti-religious campaign of the 60's – 80's of the twentieth century. aimed at eliminating visible manifestations of religiosity, was accompanied by the closure of houses of worship, violation of the constitutional rights of believers. Legislative and normative legal acts outlawed not only Greek Catholic believers, but also entire trends in Protestantism. In such circumstances, the clergy often deviated from the canonical rules, simplified some religious rites (consecration of houses, Easter cakes, etc.).