A year after the Russian Orthodox Church failed to make peace between President Boris Yeltsin and his opponents in the disbanded Supreme Soviet, top church officials Friday insisted that the clergy still has a political role to play in Russia.


"The church has a peacemaking potential, and when it loses it, something important disappears," Metropolitan Kirill, head of the church's external relations department, told a press conference.


But Alexander Nezhny, an independent writer on religion known for exposing church leaders' ties to the former KGB, dismissed the church's peacemaking efforts as attempts to gain political clout after years of being sidetracked by Soviet rulers.


Kirill and Metropolitan Yuvenali called Patriarch Alexi II's abortive attempt at peacemaking last year "historic," saying that it was the first time politicians allowed the church to come between them and have them pause before shedding blood.


"The outbreak of hatred on city streets broke up the negotiations," Kirill said of the Oct. 3-4 riots. "But there was a definitely positive flow, and real documents were signed during the talks."


Last year's talks began after Alexy II met with President Yeltsin on Sept. 30 and offered the church's services in mediating a settlement.