Russian Church Begins Rites Marking 1,000th Anniversary

The Russian Orthodox Church launched a yearlong celebration of its 1,000 anniversary Sunday with a special liturgy and a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin.

“We are glad that our jubilee coincides with this very beneficial period in Soviet history,” said senior church official Metropolitan Filaret.

About 500 religious representatives from more than 100 countries--including a high-ranking Vatican delegation--crowded into the large, stone Patriarchal Cathedral of the Epiphany to hear the liturgy led by Moscow’s Patriarch Pimen.

Five Domes, Three Altars

Soviet television showed Pimen and other Orthodox clergymen officiating at the ceremony as the strains of a male choir filled the opulently furbished church, which has five domes and three altars and dates from 1731.

Several thousand worshipers crowded the cathedral, whose ancient icons and relics are associated both with the history of the Russian church and the creation of the pre-Communist Russian nation.

Christianity was introduced by Prince Vladimir in Kievan Rus--the ancient name of what is now the northern Soviet republic of the Ukraine--with a baptism ceremony on the banks of the Dnieper River in 988.

In a rare show of cooperation between church and state, the state Ministry of Religion participated in organizing events linked to the millennium.

The millennium celebrations come as the Soviet government is considering easing its religious restrictions. Since the repressive era of dictator Josef Stalin dating back to the 1920s, Soviet worshipers have been required to register with the government, and their church activities have been severely restricted.