Most of Yekaterinburg inhabitants think that the public garden near the Drama Theatre is not a good pace to build a church. They say that another location should be chosen.
MOSCOW, May 22, 2019. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data of a survey describing the opinions of Yekaterinburg inhabitants on the construction of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr.
The plans to build the St. Catherine Church drew a wide response among Yekaterinburg inhabitants: 94% are aware of the project.
Only 18% of inhabitants oppose the church’s construction; 7% believe that the Church should be built in the public garden near the Drama Theatre according to the project; 14% believe that the Church can be built in the public garden near the theatre only if certain changes to the project are made based on the public opinion. However 58% think that the church should be built in another part of the city. When asked directly, whether the location near the Drama Theatre is good or not, only 10% say the location is good, whereas the majority of the inhabitants (74%) consider this choice to be bad.
Remarkably, many inhabitants would like to get more details about the construction of the St. Catherine Church: only 49% say the information is enough; 27% point to insufficient information; a further 24% fail to specify the information they are lacking. The city inhabitants say it is important for them to know the expert opinion on the church’s construction.
Survey took place on May 16-20, 2019, and involved Yekaterinburg inhabitants aged 18 and over. The survey was telephone-based with a sample of 3,000 respondents. The margin of error does not exceed 1.8%.
Several years ago plans were announced to build the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr in Yekaterinburg. Do you know, have you heard or do you hear for the first time about that? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |
I know; I am well aware of that | 68 |
I heard something but I do not know any details | 26 |
This is the first time I hear about it | 6 |
| Is the construction of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr important personally to you? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |
Rather important | 39 |
Rather not important | 57 |
Don’t know | 4 |
In your opinion, is the location good or bad to build the church? Or does it make no difference to you? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |
The location is likely to be good | 10 |
The location is likely to be bad | 74 |
It makes no difference to me | 12 |
Don’t know | 4 |
There are different opinions on the construction of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr. Now I will read some of them. Which one do you most agree with? (closed-ended question, one answer, % of total respondents) | |
The Church should be built, as it was announced, in the public garden near the Drama Theatre according to the project | 7 |
The Church should be built in the public garden near the Drama Theatre but certain changes to the project should be made according to the opinions of inhabitants | 14 |
The Church should be built in another location | 58 |
Plans to build the St Catherine Church in Yekaterinburg should be abandoned | 18 |
Don’t know | 3 |
| What kind of information on the construction of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr is lacking? (open-ended question, not more than 5 answers, % of total respondents) | |
Estimate of costs/ project funding | 4 |
Alternative location/ no need to build a church in the garden | 6 |
Studying the public opinion; supporters and opponents/ information on hearings | 4 |
Landscaping/ gardening/ access to the site | 2 |
Construction completion date/ project owner | 2 |
The purpose of the construction is not clear | 4 |
Exterior/design model/ area size | 5 |
Information about Saint Catherine | 1 |
Construction permit/ whether it poses any threat to the underground | 1 |
Not interesting/ no information needed | 1 |
More details/ news announcement, online information | 5 |
None/ Information is enough | 49 |
Other | 2 |
Don’t know | 24 |
Now I will cite a number of public and political figures. Please could you tell whose opinion about the construction of the Church of St. Catherine the Great Martyr you are interested to know and you trust? (closed-ended question, any number of answers, % of total respondents) | |
City historians, local history experts | 42 |
Public representatives, those who oppose the construction | 32 |
Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill | 20 |
Metropolitan Kirill of Ekaterinburg and Verkhotursk | 19 |
Governor of Sverdlovsk oblast Evgeny Kuivashev | 19 |
Public representatives, those who support the construction | 16 |
Head of Yekaterinburg Aleksandr Vysokinsky | 13 |
None of the above-mentioned | 17 |
Other (specify) | 7 |
Don’t know | 4 |
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!