Evictions, trials as Russian Church claims property
With the resurgence of a Kremlin-endorsed monastery, islanders on Valaam have endured trials, evictions and arson.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/08/evictions-trials-russian-church-claims-property-170822103042061.html
Date Written:  2017-09-07
Publisher:  Al Jazeera
Year Published:  2017
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX21216

With the resurgence of a Kremlin-endorsed monastery, islanders on Valaam have endured trials, evictions and arson.

Abstract: 
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Excerpt:

After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution, Communists uprooted Russia's Christian, Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist communities. They destroyed thousands of religious buildings and turned many more - along with their land - into museums, schools, theatres, police stations, prisons, collective farms and parks.
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In the post-Soviet 1990s, many Russians embraced Orthodoxy believing the Patriarchate of Moscow would help Russia exorcise the Communist doctrine."The Church was very open and most people had unconscious hopes that the Church would help build a democratic, free Russia," says Roman Lunkin of the Russian Academy of Science's Institute of Europe. The Kremlin started a nationwide effort to restitute religious properties, often prime real estate in city centres or recreational spots. But the Patriarchate has been selective. Instead of restoring thousands of decrepit churches, it has focused on well-known sites which could turn a profit and whose maintenance the Kremlin pays for.