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The Communist Party would rule and lead in the name of the people because, according to Marx, the people were ignorant of Marxist theory and method. -
Communism came to power during this event. -
The Bolsheviks assassinated the tsar and his family and many others who opposed them. -
Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin began the Communist International (known as the Comintern) to coordinate communist revolutions across the world, -
1925 the party organised the League of the Godless to harass and persecute churchgoers. By 1929, priests were not considered workers and, therefore, were taxed at exorbitant rates, were given no healthcare provisions or social security, and were ineligible to join collective farms.
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Joseph Stalin seized control of the Communist Party in 1927 and religious freedom became even more limited. -
In 1929, the Law on Religious Associations was proclaimed, under which people were allowed to worship in the few churches that remained and congregations had to register with the government -
Pope Pius XI, in direct response to the increasing and severe persecution of Christians in Russia, published his encyclical Divini Redemptoris, which condemned communism and called for a worldwide day of prayer for the sufferings of the Christians in Russia