Repression and persecution of believers, religion and faith, priests and clergy

Regarding religion and the church in the USSR, policies changed over time, but faith and religion itself were never officially prohibited. Believers who were not members of the party or Komsomol were not threatened with either criminal or administrative prosecution for the very fact of faith. It was only forbidden to use religion for counter-revolutionary activities and undermining Soviet power. The country's leadership believed that religion should gradually die out naturally through scientific education of the population.

Both Lenin and Stalin opposed insulting the feelings of believers, since it only strengthened religious fanaticism. In 1923, the Central Committee directly prohibited arrests of a “religious nature” and the closure of churches due to registration formalities. The resolution emphasized that success in overcoming religious prejudices does not depend on persecution, which only strengthens faith, but on a tactful approach, patient criticism and a serious historical explanation of the essence of religion. As a result, unlike pre-revolutionary Russia, the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church was restored in the USSR.