“Church people”: 41%. Research Organization “Sreda” counted the believes in Russia
12/19/2012
Москва, 19 декабря. . In the international multimedia press center of RIA Novosti, the independent research organization “Sreda” hosted a presentation over their research project – Arena, which presents a picture of religious life in Russia.
In the presentation the data about all faiths in Russia was reported. The presentation was attended by the coordinator of “Sreda” – Alina Bagrina, the research director of the fund “Public opinion” – Elena Petrenko, and the Head of the Information and Analytical Department of the Synodic Information Department of the Russian Orthodox Church – Vakhtang Kipshidze . The moderator of the event was Andrei Zolotov, the deputy head of the Joint Editorial broadcast RIA Novosti.
Atlas of Religions and Nationalities (“Arena”) was presented to the participants of the meeting. The Atlas is based on data obtained in during the All-Russia survey of 56,900 respondents in 79 regions of the Russian Federation, and was conducted by the “Public opinion” fund by the order of “Sreda”.
During the presentation of the project ARENA: Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of Russia, new estimates of the number of Orthodox believers were given. According to the data, presented publicly for the first time, “church people” make up 41% of the population: these people not only call themselves Orthodox, but also declare their affiliation to the Russian Orthodox Church. Most often, they can be found in the Tambov oblast’ (=region) (78.4% of the region’s population), and less often, in the Republic of Tyva (0.8% of the population). Such a high level of “religiousity and a declared affiliation to the church” suggests that Russia is in fact a post-secular country in which religious organizations play an important role in the socio-political space.
Also during the presentation, the participants discussed the number of believers who profess Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Hinduism, paganism, and people who consider themselves atheists, and believers without ties to any religion.
Questions about the number of Orthodox Christians and Muslims in Russia raised the liveliest debate. The numbers of Orthodox Christians and Muslims from various polls differs from 5 to 80% and from 5 to 14%, respectively.
The online visualization of the “Arena” project is via online maps, including a fast and illustrative navigation to all sections of the study.
Official website of the ARENA Project: www.sreda.org/arena
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FOMA (foma.ru), Moscow, 18 December 2012 16:44:00
SOCIOLOGISTS TRIED TO COUNT HOW MANY ORTHODOX, MUSLIMS, BUDDHISTS, JEWS, AND ATHEISTS THERE ARE IN RUSSIA
41% of the population of our country consider themselves to be members of the Russian Orthodox Church. This is the number of total respondents who agreed with the statement “I confess Orthodoxy and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church” in the sociological project titled “Atlas of Religions and Nationalities” (“ARENA”), which was conducted in 2012, by the non-profit research organization “Sreda”.
A press conference held on December 18, in RIA Novosti reported the results of this large-scale survey involving 56,900 people in 79 regions of the Russian Federation.
However, as noted by the coordinator of research organization “Sreda” Alina Bagrina, for a long time the question about the number of Orthodox Christians in Russia has been a real minefield for social scientists. It is no secret that different researchers cite figures which sometimes differ from each other (from 4.2% to 70% of Orthodox according to various sources and surveys). First of all, it is difficult to decide how to define religious people, and whether it is possible to measure religiosity?
Faith is a live thing, and does not lend itself to mathematical calculations and mechanical criteria. Sociologists have to come up with different methods to still try to solve this problem. For example, one of the conventional approaches, particularly in the West, is to “calculate” the believers through their religious behavior: visits to church, participation in parish life, the frequency of confession and communion, etc.
If we accept this approach, the picture, even according to this survey appears somewhat different: for example, only 5% of those surveyed in the project “ARENA” read the Gospel, and only 2% regularly confess.
Perhaps, as noted by Alina Bagrina, the reason for this lies in the fact that Orthodoxy in Russia today is not only a source of religious, but also cultural identity (which is generally a characteristic of the post-secular situation in the whole world).
That is, religion of today is largely used as a way of self- identification with traditional cultural and national environment. The national composition of the group “Orthodox” is 92% Russian, 1.5% Ukrainian, 1.4% Chuvash, 0.8% Mordvin, and 0.6% Armenian.
It should be noted that in some important criteria, Orthodox followers are significantly inferior to members of other faiths. For example, 8% of the “orthodox” and 47% Protestants read the Gospel; only 17% of the Orthodox pray every day, compared to 25% of Muslims, and 53% Protestants.
The survey also revealed other interesting data. For example, 25% of all respondents believe in God (higher power), but do not consider themselves to be a part of any particular denomination. 13% of respondents consider themselves to be atheists. Islam is practiced by 6.5%. No more than 0.5% of the surveyed profess Judaism, Buddhism, Catholicism or Protestantism.
Among those who answered “yes” to the question “Do you love Russia” there are more of those who profess a particular religion. Women are more likely to love Russia than men. Among those who want to leave Russia, atheists occur more often ***
City 812 (online812.ru), St. Petersburg, December 18, 2012 17:57:00
AMONG THOSE WHO WISH TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY JEWS AND ATHEISTS HOLD FIRST PLACE
Russians have started to believe differently. The hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church still claim that 80% of Russians are Orthodox. The population census does not provide an opportunity to check this statement because the issue of religion is excluded from the census. Meanwhile, a just-concluded national poll, with a record 56,900 respondents, revealed: the number of Orthodox has been reduced by half.
According to the survey which was conducted by FOM and SREDA, Atlas of Religions and Nationalities (ARENA) was prepared. It exists in both paper and electronic form. In the online version, just select the region on the map to discover: how many Christians, Jews, Muslims there are…
Only 41% of respondents indicated that they belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. The second largest group, 25%, is those who just believe in God, but do not practice any particular religion. In third place are atheists – 13%. There are 6.5% of Muslims in the country. The number of representatives of non-traditional faiths: old-believers, protestants, and pentecostals in Russia is no less than the adherents of state-recognized religions: Judaism and Buddhism. Jews and old-believers – 0.5%. Also, 8% of respondents believe in UFOs and miracles.
Perhaps the reduction in the number of Orthodox and an increase in the number of “believers without religion” is a product of the scandals that have rocked the Orthodox Church last year that forced many people turn away from the Church? Director of research at FOM Elena Petrenko denies this. In her opinion, the average Russian has not noticed neither any story about Pussy Riot nor the subsequent desecration of crosses. Research coordinator Alina Bagrina believes that the reducing the number of orthodox is due to the worldwide trend of “secularism” – believing without belonging.
29% of Orthodox and 16% just Russians trust Patriarch Kirill. 21% of Orthodox indicated: “I would like to believe in God more than I believe now.”
Of those who called themselves Orthodox, 4% regularly confess, and 8% read the Gospel. “It’s sad, but not terrible,” says head of information-analytical department of the Synodic Department of the ROC Vakhtang Kipshidze. “Before the revolution, few read the Gospel too, as the population was illiterate. But that does not mean that they were not Orthodox. In addition, we believe that there are 80% of Orthodox believers in Russia. That’s the number of Russians who belong to the Orthodox culture and potentially belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. “
By the way, the number of readers of the Gospel has not changed since the late 60s, when a similar study was first held. At that time, and in the early and mid-90s, and in 2000s there were 8% of those who read the Gospel.
The respondents were asked additional questions as a result of which it became clear that most law-abiding among us are Protestants (69% of them obey the law), and the Catholics less of all obey the law (34%). The happiest are Muslims (56%), and the most unhappy are the Jews: only 18% of them expressed their happiness. Who are afraid of migrants? Mostly Orthodox (23%). Among those wishing to leave the country, Jews and atheists stand in first.
***
Source: http://www.online812.ru/2012/12/18/010/
Russian folk line (ruskline.ru), St. Petersburg, December 18, 2012 18:24:00
BISHOP OF PODOLSK TIKHON COMMENTED ON DATA PUBLISHED BY RESEARCH ORGANISATION SREDA
Today, in RIA “Novosti” there was held a press conference over the “Atlas of Religions and Nationalities (Arena)”, in which the research organization “Sreda” together with the fund “Public Opinion” presented the results of a new survey, which told much about religiosity and belief of Russians. The project was presented by the coordinator of “Sreda” Alina Bagrina, and the director of the research fund “Public opinion” Helen Petrenko.
Sociologists have specified the number of people who call themselves Orthodox. 70%, in fact, showed the declarative faith. In this survey, Russians were offered to clarify their affiliation or non-membership of the Church. The figure, which is determined the number of Church Orthodox believers is 41%. These are respondents who said they profess Orthodoxy, and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church.
4.5% identified themselves just as Christians, but not as Orthodox, Catholic, or Protestant, and 25% said they believe in God, but do not profess any religion. The percentage of those who regularly (once a month or more often) confess is still very small (even among the Orthodox) – 4%, while 17% of respondents pray daily. 15% read the Gospel.
These sociological data is based on the national survey of 56,900 respondents.
The curator of the “200 new churches in Moscow” program, Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk said that the current picture is quite the reflection of the real state of affairs.
“There is nothing strange in the fact that not all of those who think they are a part of the church, do not exactly know the basics of faith. When construction of a church begins, the congregation often gathers those people who are not yet, in the full sense of the word, church-going. Many people come just to help the priest and their neighbors, because they want to be involved in good works of the construction of a new church. Later, through communication with the priest, they begin to participate in the sacraments of the Church. There is nothing surprising here. Many people would like to pray and talk to a priest, but they did not have such a possibility before. With the construction of new churches there will be more people who are familiar with their faith and are active members of the Church with each passing year, “- said Bishop Tikhon. ***
RIA Novosti (ria.ru), Moscow, 18 December 2012 18:32:00
41% OF RUSSIANS IDENTIFY THEMSELVES AS BELONGING TO THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, REPORTS THE SURVEY
The presentation of the Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of Russia (project “ARENA”) was held in RIA Novosti. The atlas is based on the data obtained by the research organization “Sreda” in a survey of about 60,000 respondents in 79 regions of Russia in 2012.
MOSCOW, December 18 – RIA Novosti. 41% of Russians belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, 1.5% are Orthodox, but do not belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, as it can be seen from the Atlas of Russian Nationalities and Religions, issued by the research organization “Sreda”, while at the same time, a recent survey by “Levada-Center” showed that there are 74% of Orthodox in Russia.
The presentation of the Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of Russia (project “ARENA”) was held on Tuesday at RIA Novosti. Atlas is based on data obtained by the research organization “Sreda” in a survey of about 60,000 respondents in 79 regions of Russia in 2012. The authors note that over the past decades, questions about religion were not included in the census questionnaire in the USSR and Russia, this is the gap that the ARENA project is trying to fill in. The full project is presented online, and is constantly being updated.
“In the summer of 2012 we tried to measure not just the Orthodox, but the Orthodox as members of the Church. The results were as follows: Orthodox Christians who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church – 41%, Orthodox Christians who do not belong to the Russian Orthodox Church – 1.5 %. A very large group “believe in God, but do not profess any religion” – 25%. A small, but unexpected group – we did not expect that there would be so many of them – are Christians who do not belong to any denomination – 4.1%. And a group of Old Believers make up 0.2%, which is about 300 thousand of Old Believers “, – said the coordinator of “Sreda” Alina Bagrina during the press-conference at RIA Novosti.
She explained that the criteria “belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church” has become an alternative to the existing criteria, which form the basis of other studies (eg, regular visits to church).
“We have tried to offer an alternative. We presumed the uniqueness of the concept of the ‘Church’ in Orthodox Christianity, and belonging to the Church, “- said Bagrina.
In his turn, the head of informational-analytical department of the Synodic information department of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vakhtang Kipshidze, said that he sees no contradiction in the various quantitative measurements of Orthodox believers.
“In the speeches of top-rank priests they provide another figure – 70-80% of Orthodox. This is not because we do not read the surveys carried out, and not because we do not trust them, but because, in our opinion, 70% is the number of people who bear some signs of Orthodox identity. These are the people who potentially belong to the Orthodox culture, and the ones who hear the pastoral word of the Church, even if they do not formally belong to the Church, “- he said.
“This, of course, does not put an end to the debate about the number of Orthodox believers, who belong or declare their affiliation to the Orthodox Church, but I think that these studies should be continued”, – concluded Kipshidze.
According to the study, the proportion of those who regularly (once a month or more often) confesses, is low – 2%, while 12% of those surveyed pray daily, only 5% of Russians read the Gospel, but 13% believe in the fate, in signs, divination.
The head of financial and economic management of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the manager of the “200 new churches in Moscow” program, Bishop Tikhon of Podolsk thinks that there is nothing strange in the fact that not all who consider themselves believers do not exactly know the basics of faith.
” When construction of a new church begins, the congregation often gathers those people who are not yet, in the full sense of the word, church-going. Many people come just to help the priest and their neighbors, because they want to be involved in good works of the construction of a new church. Later, through communication with the priest, they begin to participate in the sacraments of the Church, “- said Bishop Tikhon.
Source: http://ria.ru/society/20121218/915312894.html
Orthodoxy and the World (pravmir.ru), Moscow, 18 December 2012 12:50:00
41% OF BELIEVERS REFER THEMSELVES TO RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH – POLL
December, 18th. PRAVMIR. According to a survey ARENA, the percentage of citizens belonging to the Russian Orthodox Church is 41%.
This is the number of respondents agreed with the statement “I profess Orthodoxy and belong to the Russian Orthodox Church.” Another 1.5% are Orthodox, but do not belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, said the coordinator of a non-profit research organisation “Sreda” Alina Bagrina, while giving a presentation of ARENA at the press center of RIA Novosti.
Only 2% of respondents confess at least once a month. ***
Source:http://www.pravmir.ru/k-russkoj-pravoslavnoj-cerkvi-prichislyaet-sebya-41-veruyushhix-opros/