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Around 864 Patriarch Photius sent a bishop to Russia, but this was stopped by Oleg, who assumed power at Kiev (the chief Russian city at this time) in 878. Christian ideas from Byzantium, Bulgaria, and Scandinavia, still came into Russia.
In 954 Princess [[Olga of Kiev]] was baptized. This paved the way for what is called the greatest events in the history of the Russian, the baptism of [[Vladimir of Kiev|Prince Vladimir]] and the [[Baptism of Russia]] in 988. Olga’s Olga's grandson Vladimir (reigned 980-1015) was converted to Christianity and married Anna, the sister of the Byzantine Emperor. Orthodoxy became the State religion of Russia, and remained such until 1917. (Russia was not completely converted to Christianity at this time, and the Church was at first restricted mainly to the cities, while much of the countryside remained pagan until the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.)
The 10th and 11th centuries majestic churches and monasteries were built. St. [[Anthony of the Caves]] brought the traditions of Athonian monasticism to Russia in 1051.
Also, behind the question of monastic property lay two different conceptions of the monastic life, and ultimately two different views of the relation of the Church to the world. The Possessors emphasized the social obligations of monasticism. Monks argued that they did not use their wealth on themselves, but to care for the sick and poor, to show hospitality, and to teach. To do these things efficiently, monasteries needed money and therefore they must own land. (Possessors emphasized unity in preaching and worship, beauty and dignity in ritual.)
The Non-Possessors argued on the other hand that almsgiving is the duty of the laity, while a monk’s monk's primary task is to help others by praying for them and by setting an example. To do these things properly a monk must be detached from the world, and only those who are vowed to complete poverty can achieve true detachment. Monks who are landowners cannot avoid being tangled up in secular anxieties, and because they become absorbed in worldly concerns, they act and think in a worldly way. (Non-Possessors were more concerned with freedom in religious practice and taught that God was most pleased with a simple, contrite heart, even in the absence of an elaborate Liturgy. They were the scholars and mystics, who upheld evangelical poverty.)
===Russian patriarch===