MOSCOW — More than 90 years after its properties were seized by Bolsheviks during the October Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church is set to recover most of its belongings thanks to a controversial law adopted by parliament.

The new legislation allows every religious denomination to demand from the state that its belongings be returned. Authorities can, however, decline to do so. But the law’s opponents had argued that the rules were formulated too vaguely.

Russia’s cultural elite had been among the legislation’s leading opponents, warning that it would lead to a “hemorrhage” from the country’s museums. Its supporters, however, celebrated the vote as a historic victory and long-overdue justice.

A total of 11,000 objects are affected, including thousands of memorials of national significance, Russian newspapers wrote.

By MCT News Service