After the revolution of 1917 St John the Baptist church was used very rarely and was almost always closed. Arrived in Astrakhan in December 1943 Astrakhan Archbishop Philip ( Stawicki ) became actively seek the return of the Diocese of the cemetery of St. John the Baptist Church , and it is open for worship. In connection with the arrival in 1949 in Astrakhan Patriarch of Moscow Alexis I. local authorities registered cemetery church community . Now the old cemetery is no longer functioning , and nobody here is buried , but in the cemetery church, an old habit , still driven by the burial service people.