Soviet Lawmakers Bless Freedom of Worship : Religion: The legislature ends state persecution of churches but disallows their use of school buildings.

The national legislature ended decades of state persecution of organized religion today by giving final approval to a law guaranteeing freedom of worship.

The Supreme Soviet approved the law by a vote of 341 to 2 with no abstentions.

Legislators approved the law in principle on Wednesday but met again today to resolve a dispute between the two chambers over a clause permitting the use of school buildings for religious classes after regular hours.

The legislature voted 303 to 46 with 16 abstentions to remove the clause after a confusing and tedious parliamentary dispute.

One of the chambers, the Council of the Union, had voted to remove the clause last week but the other, the Council of Nationalities, had no quorum for a vote.

Patriarch Alexei II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, said he favored the clause, as long as parental approval is required for students to attend after-school religious classes.

“If we remove this part of the law today, we would be taking a step backward in our democratic development,” the patriarch said. He also said church activities are now restricted to within the walls of churches because all schools were nationalized after the 1917 revolution.

Historian Roy A. Medvedev, a member of the Supreme Soviet, also supported the clause, arguing that in some small villages there is no place for students to gather for religious classes except public schools.

But other delegates argued that strict separation of church and state precludes the use of public schools for religious classes.

Ukrainian legislator Sergei Ryabchenko argued that allowing schools to be used for religious classes could “ignite religious tensions” in some areas of the Soviet Union such as the western Ukraine, where there is conflict between Ukrainian Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches.

The lawmakers made other small changes, voting to tax the profits of businesses run by religious organizations at the same rate as other businesses.

After the revolution, the Communists seized some church property and assets and prohibited the teaching of religion. They converted some churches into factories and established an officially atheist society.

The new law forbids the government from interfering in the practice of religion. It also improves the legal status of religious organizations, guarantees the right to study religious doctrine and calls for a religious council to advise the government on human rights.