44% of Russians think that the Orthodox Christianity is an official religion of the Russian society. The question of what religion the head of the state belongs to is very important for the Russian society; 50% believe that the head of the state may not belong to a religion other than the Orthodox Christianity.
MOSCOW, November 12, 2013. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the data concerning how Russians assess the role of the Orthodox Church in the life of Russia; what they think about the influence of the Church on the life of the modern society.
46% of Russians say that today Russia has an official religion; 44% say that the official religion is the Orthodox Christianity.
According to most of Russians (56%), the Orthodox Church played a considerable role in the turning points of the Russian history. The share of those who thinks that the Church has never had any impact on the Russian history is two times fewer (28%).
Most of Russians recognize the influence of the Orthodox Church on the development of Russia; every second says that the Church was a driving and positive force (47%); only 9% think that the Church hampered the development. One-third of respondents believe that the Orthodox Christianity did not influence the development of the Russian state.
According to Russians, today the Orthodox Church has a huge impact on the moral state of the society: it is marked by 64% respondents, however Russians think that the level of influence is not considerable (46%). the second place is held by the life of people: 17% believe that Church influence the social life a lot; 39% think that there is some influence but it is not big (to compare: a year ago the shares of respondents who told about that were 14 and 35, respectively). Almost the same share of respondents mention a big influence of the Church on the inter-ethnic relations (15% believe that the Church has a big influence on this sphere: 37% - insignificant influence).
Least of Russians report that the Orthodox Church influences the internal policy of Russia (11% - considerable influence; 35% - insignificant influence), foreign policy (10 and 32%, respectively) and education (9 and 31%, respectively).
At the same time, most of respondents cite that the Church should influence the moral life of society but should not interfere with state affairs and policies; the share of such respondents is increasing year by year (from 43% in 2009 to 50% currently). One-third of respondents think that the Church should solve only religious problems (30%). Fifteen percent of Russians oppose them stating that the Church should actively participate in discussing and solving the problems of the modern society.
For most of Russians it is very important what kind of religion the head of state belongs to (64%). Fifty percent would not accept it if the head of the Russian state belonged to a religion other than the Orthodox Christianity.
The VCIOM opinion polls were conducted on October 26-27, 2013. 1600 respondents were interviewed in 130 communities in 42 regions of Russia. The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
In your opinion, is there today any official religion in Russia, or not? If yes, which one? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
Yes, Orthodox Christianity | 44 |
Yes, Islam | 1 |
Yes, Catholic Church | 1 |
No official religion | 46 |
Other | 1 |
Hard to tell | 8 |
In your opinion, what role did the Orthodox Church play in the Russian history? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
| Total respondents |
Substantial role; it had a huge impact on Russian history during its turning points | 56 |
Rather insignificant role; the Church almost never influenced the Russian history | 28 |
Hard to tell | 16 |
What statement is closer to yours? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
| Total respondents |
The Orthodox Church is often a driving and a positive force in the development of Russia | 47 |
The Orthodox Church was often an obstacle to the development of Russia | 9 |
Orthodox Church had no impact on the development of Russia | 30 |
Hard to tell | 14 |
How would you assess the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church on different spheres of social life today? (closed-ended question, one answer per each position) | ||||||||||
| Moral state of Russian society | Your life | Interethnic relations | Internal policy | International policy | Education | ||||
| 2012 | 2013 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 | 2012 | 2013 | 2012 | 2013 | 2013 |
Substantial influence | 15 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 |
The influence is not considerable | 48 | 46 | 35 | 39 | 37 | 38 | 35 | 33 | 32 | 31 |
Almost no influence | 32 | 31 | 49 | 41 | 40 | 41 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 53 |
Hard to tell | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 7 |
How should the Church interact with the state and society? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |||
| 2009 | 2012 | 2013 |
The Church should be occupied with religious problems; it should not interfere in the life of state and society | 27 | 31 | 30 |
The Church should influence on the moral and spiritual life of the whole society but it should not interfere in the domestic policy and state affairs | 43 | 44 | 50 |
The Church should actively participate in solving the problems of the modern state and society | 16 | 17 | 15 |
Hard to tell | 14 | 7 | 5 |
Is it acceptable for the Russian president to belong to a religion other than the Orthodox Christianity? (closed-ended question, one answer) | |
| Total respondents |
Yes, it is acceptable | 14 |
No, it is not acceptable | 50 |
Religion does not matter | 29 |
Hard to tell | 8 |
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!