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!