Soviet religious freedom -- view from Billy Graham

The Rev. Billy Graham ended his visit to the Soviet Union, cautioning against saying there is no religious freedom there, Monitor correspondent Ned Temko reports.

At a May 12 news conference, the Rev. Dr. Graham jokingly suggested churches in Moscow were doing better than in his hometown, Charlotte, N.C. He stressed it was ''impossible'' to make definitive judgments on the basis of his brief stay, but did say freedom of religion ''is a relative term.''

''Just from my own point of view . . . I have experienced total liberty in what I wanted to say.''

Members of Dr. Graham's party have suggested he wants to avoid ruffling official feathers during his visit, in hopes of returning to the Soviet Union at a later date.