Anglican-Orthodox relations and the religious rehabilitation of the Soviet regime during the Second World War

Abstract

The ambiguities and difficulties of church-state relations in wartime are explored through the negotiations that took place about the institutional role of the churches between the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Information and the leadership of the Church of England during the Second World War. Concerns about political exploitation of the churches, and the extent to which the Church of England was implicated in politics and propaganda, are illustrated by examining some aspects of the use made by the Ministry of Information of Anglican relations with the Orthodox churches. Special attention is given to an Anglican delegation led by the Archbishop of York to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1943.