Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Moscow) street. In the late 1970s the city considered renovating the building, possibly to use as a concert hall for organ recitals, or as a general cultural administration centre. These projects were never carried out due to resistance from the research institute. The "glasnost" (openness) policy, introduced during the rule of Mikhail Gorbachev, played a major role in developing religious freedom in the Soviet Union. Consequently, in 1989, a group of Moscow Catholics and the cultural association "The Polish House" (Russian: "Дом Польский"), suggested that the building should again be used for religious purposes. Following the city's assent, the first Mass
1996 Mikhail Gorbachev presidential campaign until its dissolution in December 1991. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Boris Yeltsin (whose rise to power Gorbachev had tried to prevent) became the Russian head-of-state. Gorbachev had, reportedly, been contemplating a political return since sometime in the middle of 1993. Gorbachev was still a vigorous and opinionated man. He desired to escape from his political exile and to repair his image. Gorbachev was also motivated, amid chaotic reform efforts by Yeltsin, by a belief that he could implement far superior (and less disastrous) reform than Yeltsin. Gorbachev also had a strong personal animosity towards Yeltsin. All of