MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Reuters) - Russia on Wednesday adopted a draft bill allowing the Russian Orthodox Church to reclaim up to 17,000 buildings and churches nationalised after the 1917 Bolshevik revolution.
The bill, which sailed through its second and main reading in Russia’s lower house of parliament, provides for the hand-over to the increasingly powerful orthodox church of property confiscated by Soviet authorities
The head of Russia’s parliamentary committee on culture said that religious institutions could claim up to 17,000 buildings, mainly those already being used by the church.
The bill carries a provision barring the repossession of museum pieces, such as icons, and public buildings.
"We will only hand over a state facility to the church where it will be directly used for religious purposes," Grigory Ilyev told Reuters. The bill must now pass a perfunctory third reading before being signed into law by the president.
The Russian Orthodox Church was reinstated in the Soviet Union during World War II following the Bolshevik Revolution. The Soviet takeover of churches, monasteries and convents left the church severely depleted amidst an official policy that scorned religion.
