Eighty-five percent of Orthodox Russians are aware or heard of the Christmas Fast; every tenth is going to follow the fast.

MOSCOW, November 29, 2019. Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey describing how many Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, and what Orthodox fasts they follow.

Today the majority of Russians consider themselves Orthodox adherents (67%). They are mostly women (74%), respondents aged 45-59 (71%) and those aged 60 (73%). Eighty-three percent of Orthodox adherents go to church with varying degrees of frequency. They are represented by 70% of those who go to church from time to time, basically women (82%), young people aged 18-24 (82%), those aged 35-44 (81%), and people living in large cities (74% of metropolitan residents; 74% of respondents living in the cities with a million-plus population; 75% of those living in the cities with 500-950 thousand inhabitants). A further 13% visit church at least once a month. Seventeen percent of Orthodox adherents do not go to church – mainly men (26%) and rural area residents (21%).

Simultaneously, one-third of Orthodox adherents follow Orthodox fasts with varying degrees of frequency (30%); that is a 5-point increase over the recent six months (25%). Fifteen percent of them say they only follow the Great Lent; 14% say they follow most of the fasts but not all. Two percent of respondents say they strictly observe every fast. Sixty-nine percent of Orthodox Christians do not follow fasts; however this percentage has decreased by 6 p.p. since March 2019.

The share of Orthodox adherents who know or heard of the Christmas Fast is 85%. Only one-third of respondents tried to identify the starting date (30%); 7% of them could identify this date correctly (November 28).

In the Russian mind, the Christmas Fast is associated with food and alcohol restrictions (14%), spiritual abstinence and self-improvement (11%), as well as with the Christmas holiday itself (10%). A further 7% mention positive feelings – joy and happiness; 6% point to a feeling of great holiday and the related preparations.

Nine percent of Orthodox Christians are going to follow the fasting from November 28 to January 6; they are mainly people living in the million-plus cities (16%). One-quarter of respondents remain undecided (25%): mainly young people aged 18-24 (36%) and 25-34 (30%), as well as rural area residents (35%). However, 64% of Orthodox Russians are not going to observe the Christmas Fast: basically men (70%), respondents aged 35-44 (68%), metropolitan residents (80%) and people living in the cities with 500-950 thousand inhabitants (70%).

Nationwide VCIOM-Sputnik survey was conducted on November 27, 2019. The survey involved 1,600 Russians aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based and carried out using stratified dual-frame random sample based on a complete list of landline and mobile phone numbers operating in Russia. The data were weighted according to selection probability and social and demographic characteristics. The margin of error at a 95% confidence level does not exceed 2.5%. In addition to sampling error, minor changes in question wording and different circumstances arising during the fieldwork can introduce bias into the survey.

Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM, the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory.