Soviet Religious Law (1917–1988) and its Legacy in the Legislation of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia

Abstract

This academic article examines Soviet confessional law from 1917 to 1988 and its enduring legacy in the contemporary legislation of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. It argues that despite the collapse of the USSR, the Soviet approach to religion continues to influence these post-Soviet states, particularly evident in current events such as the war in Ukraine, Russia’s instrumentalization of religion, Ukraine’s efforts to ban a branch of the Orthodox Church, and Belarus’s revival of Soviet-era persecution of clergy.

The article traces the evolution of Soviet religious policy, beginning with the initial decrees separating church and state, which effectively aimed to eliminate religion as an institutional and social phenomenon. It discusses the 1929 law “On Religious Associations”, which established strict state control over religious communities. The text then explores the utilitarian “Stalinist thaw” during and after World War II, where religion, particularly the Russian Orthodox Church, was temporarily used for state purposes, followed by renewed and intensified anti-religious campaigns under Khrushchev, disguised as “scientific-atheistic propaganda”. The Brezhnev era saw a formalization of these control mechanisms, culminating in the 1977 Constitution, which legally solidified the Communist Party’s dominance and the incompatibility of religious association with communist goals.

The author concludes that Soviet law consistently instrumentalized religion to create a new, non-religious citizen. This legacy of instrumentalization and state control over religious affairs is, to varying degrees, reflected in the current legal frameworks and practices of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine, as demonstrated by recent legislative actions and state policies in these nations concerning religious organizations and freedom of conscience.