THE TRANSCARPATHIAN REFORMED CHURCH IN THE CONDITIONS OF CRISIS AND THE CALL OF THE SOVIET SYSTEM (LATE 1960S – EARLY 1990S)

Abstract

This article examines several issues of religious life in the 1960s – 1990s. The religious policy of the Soviet authorities regarding the Transcarpathian Reformed Church is highlighted. In the late 1960s, in connection with the improvement of state-church relations, the Soviet authorities eased the pressure on the church. In 1965, the Council for the Affairs of Religious Cults and the Council for the Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church were reorganized into a single body - the Council for the Affairs of Religions, which existed until 1991. However, the course on atheist education remained unchanged. The removal from the leadership of M. Khrushchev led to the liberalization of politics in the field of religion. The authorities have abandoned pronounced actions against the church and believers and are trying to cover up anti-religious actions by law. The authorities gradually moved from a crude and direct struggle with the church to more sophisticated methods - reducing the number of believers through anti-religious propaganda and anti-religious education. The reconstruction initiated by M. Gorbachev marked the beginning of the state's religious policy. The last third of the 1980s can be considered a turning point in relations between the state and church institutions. In fact, in a few years, the state went from implementing an anti-religious policy to promoting the development of church institutions. The general political situation in the country on the eve and in the year of independence had a positive effect on the life of the Reformed people of Transcarpathia. Contacts with Protestant, in particular, Reformed (Calvinist) religious and secular organizations in Europe were revived. The religious education of the youth was resumed, and the training of new priests became possible again. The churches confiscated by the state were returned to the communities, and the construction of new churches began on the site of damaged or destroyed ones. There were changes in the management system, from single leadership to synodal-presbyterial management.