Two statements from Moscow last week revealed snags in the Kremlin's efforts to use religion as a political opiate in other countries.
After a 15-year struggle to dominate the Orthodox Church in the U.S., Moscow appeared ready to accept failure. Patriarch Alexei, who works closely with the Soviet Foreign Office, last week promised "full administrative autonomy" to the American churches of his faith.
The other message from Moscow was less conciliatory. Tass, the Soviet news agency, denounced "General Douglas MacArthur for "crude interference" with the Orthodox Church in Japan—i.e., refusing to cooperate in a Soviet effort to take over the Japanese Orthodox...
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