ABSTRACT
Virtually every religion is represented in the Soviet Union — Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and Protestantism, Islam in both Sunni and Shiite versions, Judaism, and Buddhism. Officially, of course, the country is atheistic, but different religions are tolerated to various degrees at different times. Marx’s view that "Religion is the opium of the people" was the original justification for Soviet policies restricting the practice of religion. The post-Stalin years saw a slow improvement in the status of the Orthodox church and of Islam and increased leeway for the Armenian and Georgian churches. The Muslim groups allowed to return home were also permitted to reopen the few mosques operational prior to the war, and to rehabilitate a few more. On the other hand, the positions of Catholicism and of Judaism deteriorated, probably because of their Western orientation. Security agents have penetrated the religious hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox church and, to a lesser extent, of other denominations as well.
