"Religion - is opium for peoples" - this phrase was the official slogan, which determined the policy of the soviet state in relation to religion during 70 years of its existence. Officially declared separation of the Church from state and of school from the Church turned out to be open persecution of believers of all confessions, which was started by Bolsheviks just after coming to the governing. Thousands of Churches and other Church buildings were destroyed, hundreds of believers were killed and sent to concentration camps as dangerous for communist regime.

A lot of means was spent on atheistic propaganda. Monographs and periodical issues, directed on struggle with religion in Soviet Union, have been published in thousand circulation. The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Comunist Party Mr. Nikita Hruschev in early 60-s promised to show the last Orthodox priest and to close the last Orthodox Church.

Nevertheless, all these attempts couldn't eradicate longing to spiritual, high and pure, which is in the soul of each person. That is why one of the main components of transformation processes, which have started in the Soviet Union as a result of "perestroika", became the religious revival of peoples, inhabiting the countries of post-soviet space.

Splash of religiosity was closely connected with the search of new identity, of the exact place in the society, state and ethnos. The processes, which happened and still take place in the countries of the former Soviet Union, can't be regarded separately from religious component. It is so important, that seriously touched political, social and cultural policy.

On the one hand this process is based on returning back to sources of studying of historical past, when religion was the inseparable part of social life, and on the other hand - this is a search of separate person and society, which try to answer the cardinal questions of living in new conditions, when the ideological system of the totalitarian state has collapsed.

All these facts directed not only to the increase of the quantity of believers of all confessions, but also to strengthening of the role of religious organizations in social-political life of the countries of CIS. The realization of religious freedoms became not only the declared principle, but objective reality, closely connected to process of democratization.

The question about the influence of religion on all sides of the society in post-soviet space has been never seriously analyzed before. But many leading public figures as in the countries of CIS as well as abroad many times underlined that this aspect should be taken into account. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the USA have shown, that religious extremism together with economical and social tenseness could lead to horrible consequences.

That is why in 2002 the Christian Educational Centre of Saints Methodius and Cyrill and the chair for religious studies of theological faculty of EHU have jointly created the complex project on religious researches and international dialogue under the leadership of Prof. Danilov. The leading religious experts, sociologists, politicians and theologians of Belarus have been participating in this research program.

The main aims of the project are:

• studies of religious situation in the Republic of Belarus, its monitoring jointly with leading sociological centers of the Republic;
• analysis of transformation processes in religious consciousness in post-soviet space of Belarus, which gives the opportunity to determine the regularities, characteristic for all countries of CIS (with taking into account of national peculiarities of our country);
• the organization of conferences and so-called "round-tables" with leading political and official representatives of Belarus and foreign countries (USA, Europe) for better understanding of the role of religion in Belarus and its influence on contacts with other countries;
• the organization and coordination of joint work of different religious organizations and confessions in the field of ecology, education, charitable activity, international dialogue;
• the realization of long-termed scientific programs, interesting to Western partners;
• publishing of monographs, manuals, collections of scientific works and periodicals on religious themes.