ABSTRACT
In the long term the sobor may prove to have been a crucial event in Church-State relations in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and in the position and role of the Church in Soviet society. Burying the old Church-State harmony theory, the chancellor advocated real and complete separation between the two, but active Church participation in the life of the nation, particularly in the area of spiritual health and of strengthening of the family, to which the Church has much to contribute. The patriarch is the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. He convokes the sobors and meetings of the synod, presents reports to the sobors on the state of the Church, and is responsible for the fulfillment of the sobors' decisions. The synod, under the chairmanship of the patriarch, is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Church.
