The Russian Orthodox Church is a Christian religion that withstood 80 years of Communist repression to be reborn after the fall of Communism in 1990.

Aleksy II was the first patriarch of the church after Communism fell; he died on December 5, 2008.Telegraph: His Holiness Alexy II (December 5, 2008)

The Russian Orthodox Church developed in the 10th century AD as an outgrowth of the Christian Byzantine church in Constantinople. The conversion of Russia (known then as Kievan Rus) began in 988 AD, when envoys of the Russian prince Vladimir were sent to the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople to investigate alternate religions. Upon their return, the Prince ordered his people christened immediately, by force if necessary.St. Ignatius: A Timeline of Church History St. Petersburg Times: The Russian Church: An Overview (1999)

By the mid-10th century, the first organized congregations existed in Kiev. The first cathedrals in Russia were built in the 11th century in Kiev and Novgorod, built in the same style as the Hagia Sophia. St. Petersburg Times: The Russian Church: An Overview (1999) University of Toronto: Russian Orthodox church: early history and art

The Eastern Orthodox church broke away from Rome in the 11th century (called the Great Schism), and the rift grew deeper when the Crusaders led by Rome sacked Constantinople.St. Ignatius: A Timeline of Church History After the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century, the church grew into a semi-independent branch of Eastern Christianity.Library of Congress: The Russian Orthodox Church

Peter the Great created the Russian Empire in the early 18th century, and with it, he curtailed the power of the Russian Orthodox Church in secular matters. A revival of the church's power occurred in the months before the Bolshevik revolution in 1917 that led to the death of the Romanovs and the establishment of the Communist regime.Library of Congress: The Russian Orthodox Church