1971 Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church
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1971 meeting of the Local Council of the Russian Orthodox Church was the third in the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, and second in the second patriarchal period (since 1917), which took place from May 30 to June 2, 1971, in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius. The Local Council meeting was held in connection with the need to elect a new primate of the Church after the death of Patriarch Alexy I. Metropolitan Pimen of Krutitsy and Kolomna, locum tenens of the patriarchal throne was elected new patriarch. Another important act of the council was the abolition of the anathema on the old rites that was issued by the Great Moscow Council of 1667, thus recognizing full communion to the Old Believers.[1]
On 17 April 1970, Patriarch Alexy I died. On 12 June, the Council for Religious Affairs received permission from the CPSU Central Committee to open the council. However, the authorities did not allow the council to be held in the year of the centenary of the birth of Vladimir Lenin. The decision to convene the council was adopted on 25 June 1970, by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church. The commission on the preparation of the Council consisted of 16 people, including two lay persons.
