Results of our studies

IN BRIEF

MOSCOW, June 15, 2012. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data describing how Russians assess the position of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in conflict situations related to the Church and the Russian patriarch.

The overwhelming majority of Russians support the position taken by the ROC in a number of scandals related the church and Patriarch Kirill: 43% of respondents believe that it is a reasonable response of the church to being insulted. Those who share this position are Muscovites and St.Petersburgians (51%), elderly Russians (54%), and Russians having middle or low income (45-49%).

Simultaneously, one-third of respondents (35%) opposes this point of view and considers that the church the believers ought to show mercy. Those who think so are Russians younger than 60, rather than elderly ones (35-38% versus 28, respectively).

Half of the Orthodox Russians back the church in recent scandals (48%). On the contrary, atheists do not accept this position (39 and 47%, respectively).


The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on April 28-29, 2012. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 138 sampling points in 46 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.

There have been a number of scandals related to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch Kirill such as the christening of Kirkorov`s daughter, the Pussy Riot punk prayer, the  case over the flat in the House on the Embankment,  a doctored photo of the Patriarch wearing expensive watches. The ROC openly opposed all participants of these scandals demanding the punishment. Which statement below do you most agree with?

(close-ended question, one answer)

   

Total respondents

Aged  18-24

Aged  25-34

Aged  35-44

Aged  45-59

Aged  60 and above

  The response of the church to being insulted is reasonable

  43  

  40  

  36  

  41  

  44  

  54  

  The behavior of the church and the believers is unacceptable; they should show mercy instead of getting into squabbles and scrapes

  35  

  35  

  38  

  37  

  36  

  28  

  Hard to tell  

  22  

  25  

  26  

  22  

  20  

  18  


 There have been a number of scandals related to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch Kirill such as the christening of Kirkorov`s daughter, the Pussy Riot punk prayer, the  case over the flat in the House on the Embankment,  a doctored photo of the Patriarch wearing expensive watches. The ROC openly opposed all participants of these scandals demanding the punishment. Which statement below do you most agree with?

 (close-ended question, one answer)

   

Total respondents

  The Orthodox Christians   

  Followers of other religions

  Nonbelievers   

  The response of the church to being insulted is reasonable

  43  

  48  

  31  

  23  

  The behavior of the church and the believers is unacceptable; they should show mercy instead of getting into squabbles and scrapes

  35  

  33  

  39  

  47  

  Hard to tell  

  22  

  20  

  30  

  30  


There have been a number of scandals related to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Patriarch Kirill such as the christening of Kirkorov`s daughter, the Pussy Riot punk prayer, the  case over the flat in the House on the Embankment,  a doctored photo of the Patriarch wearing expensive watches. The ROC openly opposed all participants of these scandals demanding the punishment. Which statement below do you most agree with?

 (close-ended question, one answer)

   

Total respondents

  Moscow and St.Petersburg  

  More than  500 thousand  

  100 - 500 thousand  

  Less than 100 thousand  

  Rural area  

 The response of the church to being insulted is reasonable

  43  

  51  

  43  

  37  

  45  

  43  

  The behavior of the church and the believers is unacceptable; they should show mercy instead of getting into squabbles and scrapes

  35  

  36  

  32  

  33  

  36  

  37  

  Hard to tell  

  22  

  12  

  25  

  31  

  20  

  20  

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!

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