THE RUSSIAN-ORTHODOX-CHURCH - OPPORTUNITY AND TROUBLE

The opening of the Soviet archives has enabled scholars to correct som e previously held misconceptions about the history of the Russian Orth odox Church since World War II, Western observers had mostly believed that the Russian Orthodox Church had 20-25000 churches in the 1950s, w hile the real number was 13000-14000 The losses during Khrushchev's an tireligious drive were 44 per cent of the parishes, Brezhnev's period of stagnation witnessed a further erosion, followed by a recovery in t he late 1980s and early 1990s, Since then, the resurgence of church in stitutional life has slowed, as the Church struggles with schism, a ca lamitous financial situation and an immense shortage of priests. Copyr ight (C) 1996 The Regents of the University of California