Coverage in the foreign press of the 60-80s of the XX century of the religious situation in the USSR

Abstract

This article analyzes the religious policy of the USSR, discusses the issues of coverage in the foreign press of the state of religion, the religious movement in the end of 60-80s of the XX centuries on the territory of the Soviet Union. The author relies on archival documents of the Council for Religious Affairs under the USSR Council of Ministers, as this body collected and recorded articles and information published outside the Union. Materials on religious policy of the USSR, published by leading journals and publications of foreign countries, such as the USA, England, Finland, Japan, France, Holland, etc. include conversations with the heads of Muslim and Christian clergy, analysis of the religious situation in the period under study, some aspects of the relationship between the state and the church. In addition, the statistical reports of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the 70s were compared and analyzed. Based on the materials of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Kazakh SSR, the author examines the relationship between church and state in the Soviet Union, the relationship of Muslim communities with other Central Asian and Arab countries and Christian communities with European ones. She also examines the consequences and results of the 60-year atheistic struggle. The author of the article, relying on the methods of historical research, is trying to prove the reliability and objectivity of articles in the foreign press, since foreign authors, using the methods of observation, oral history, described the trip to the Soviet Union as a personal experience, as a "visible and audible voice" of the population of the USSR. To disclose the content of historical data and formulated facts, the article used methods of forecasting, comparison and analysis. Key words: foreign press, USSR, registration of religious associations, atheist, council for religious affairs, freedom of religion, church, Muslim clergy, Soviet period, believers.