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
Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union weakened, and centralized power from Moscow was unable to combat centrifugal forces in the South. In the elections, many Party candidates were defeated. Furthermore, Boris Yeltsin was elected as mayor of Moscow and returned to political prominence to become an increasingly vocal critic of Gorbachev. Gorbachev chose a vice president; but when first Shevardnadze, then Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev, turned it down, Gorbachev chose Gennady Yanayev, the head of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions and a known hardliner. This decision would come back to haunt Gorbachev later. In contrast to the controversy at home