Church Holds Kremlin Rites After 71 Years

In a dramatic sign of the Soviet leadership’s increasingly relaxed attitude toward religion, Russian Orthodox priests Friday conducted a service in the Kremlin’s Uspensky Cathedral, the first religious rites in the historic church since 1918, 71 years ago.

Dozens of church leaders from around the world came to the service, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of the Moscow patriarchate and honored the canonization of two saints, Tikhon and Iov.

The 15th-Century cathedral, where the czars were crowned and the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church were buried, was filled with the smell of incense and the sound of prayer for the first time since the Bolsheviks made atheism state doctrine and turned the Kremlin churches into museum pieces.

“This is no longer a museum. We again gave witness of our faith to the world,” said Archpriest Gregory Coghetti, a leader of the Russian Orthodox faith in Italy.

Church leaders, however, said they have received no assurances that they will be allowed to hold more services in the future.

Patriarch Pimen, the 78-year-old leader of the Russian Orthodox Church here, attended the hour-long service, although he is in extremely frail health and had to be carried to his limousine.

The square outside the Kremlin churches usually attracts tourists, but on Friday, hundreds of believers gathered, and when the priests passed by, the people crossed themselves and prayed.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev has assured Patriarch Pimen and other religious leaders that the state will respect the rights of believers.