In most European countries the church was separated from the state in the era of bourgeois revolutions. Western society is clearly secular in nature. But in most countries, the state officially supports those religious organizations that are best suited to national interests and traditions. In England – a Church of England (its head is the Queen), in Sweden, Norway, Denmark – Lutheran, in Spain, Portugal – Catholic, etc. With regard to Eastern societies, they are characterized by fws secular and religious spheres of life. Consequently, the act of separation of church and state in Russia means movement in the western channel.
However, this act was perceived and in fact became a legislative the basis of persecution against the church. The first blow came under the Orthodox Church as the official church of the old Russia. In addition, other churches were in areas where there has not been the Bolshevik government. Closure of temples, seizure of church property, the punishment of clergymen began in the early months after the events of October 1917, Patriarch October 13, 1918 addressed to the trc with a message in which he wrote: ' executed bishops, priests, monks and nuns, not the innocent, but simply baseless charge in some vague and uncertain counter-revolutionary '. On the territory of pre-revolutionary Russia acted 78 thousand Orthodox temples, 25 thousand mosques, more than 6 thousand synagogues, 4,4 thousand Catholic churches, more than 200 Old Believer churches of Georgia and Armenia. Number of churches in Russia in 1941 decreased by 20 times.