n.
俄国国教

Russian Church \Rus"sian Church\, Russian Orthodox Church
\Rus"sian Or"tho*dox Church\
The established church of the Russian empire up to the
revolution of 1917, at which time the ruling Communist party
tried to suppress all religious worship. The czar was the
nominal head of the church, but he never claimed the right of
deciding questions of theology and dogma. It still forms a
portion, by far the largest, of the Orthodox (Eastern) Church
and is governed by the Patriarch and the Holy Synod. In 1988
the church, with official approval, celebrated the 1000 year
anniversary of the baptism of Russia. After breakup of the
Soviet Union in 1991 the Russian Church began to regain some
its old influence in Russian life, and the government turned
over some of the confiscated churches back to church control.
The Russian Church was recognized anew as the official church
of Russia, with special priveleges, by an act of the Russian
Duma in 1997. The Metropolitan of Moscow, as Patriarch of the
church, is regarded as the first among equals in order of
deference among bishops of the church.
[Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC]