The conference “Russian Orthodoxy from modernity to the present day (late 19th — late 20th centuries): projections of the Great Russian revolution in history and historiography” was held on June 15–17, 2018 at Smolensk State University. The conference was attended by more than 30 scholars from various academic centers of Russia, Belarus, Latvia, Poland and the USA.

In this article the author constructs a typology of the different senses secularization has been understood, and how these various senses correlate to different models of secularization in the modern world. He engages with the works of Jürgen Habermas and argues that Habermas’s conception of secularization is too closely linked to the European model in which secularization and modernization are correlated. Casanova argues that the world may be becoming “post‑secular,” characterized by the re‑emergence of religion as a public issue in some societies.

The paper explores some transformations in Russian Orthodox ritual practices both during the Khrushchev antireligious campaign and in its aftermath; it draws on the Ukrainian material. The article examines illegal rituals, modifications of traditional life-cycle rituals, “lay services”, and organizational changes introduced into major church celebrations. Drawing on vast archival material, the author traces who initiated these transformations (laity, clergy, hierarchy) and also the attitude towards them on the part of state and ecclesiastical authorities.