Russians Return to Religion, But Not to Church
http://www.pewforum.org/2014/02/10/russians-return-to-religion-but-not-to-church/FEBRUARY 10, 2014
Over the past two decades, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been an upsurge in affiliation with Orthodox Christianity in Russia.1 Between 1991 and 2008, the share of Russian adults identifying as Orthodox Christian rose from 31% to 72%, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of three waves of data (1991, 1998 and 2008) from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) – a collaboration involving social scientists in about 50 countries. During the same period, the share of Russia’s population that does not identify with any religion dropped from 61% to 18%. The share of Russian adults identifying with other religions, including Islam, Protestant Christianity and Roman Catholicism, rose in the 1990s and then leveled off. (Estimates of the size of Russia’s Muslim population vary. The most recent ISSP survey finds that Muslims make up 5% of Russia’s population, but other surveys and studies have somewhat higher estimates. For more information, see “Sochi Olympics shine spotlight on Russia’s Muslim population.”)
There also has been a modest increase in some measures of religious commitment. For example, the share of Russian adults who said they are at least “somewhat” religious rose from 11% in 1991 to 54% in 2008. And the portion of adults who said they believe in God rose from 38% to 56% over the same period.2
But for most Russians, the return to religion did not correspond with a return to church. Across all three waves of ISSP data, no more than about one-in-ten Russians said they attend religious services at least once a month. The share of regular attenders (monthly or more often) was 2% in 1991, 9% in 1998 and 7% in 2008. This suggests that although many more Russians now freely identify with the Orthodox Church or other religious groups, they may not be much more religiously observant than they were in the recent past, at least in terms of attendance at religious services.
Russia’s Changing Religious Makeup
For centuries, Orthodox Christianity was the dominant religion in Russia. This began to change in the early 20th century, following the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution and the imposition of state-sponsored atheism as part of communist ideology. During the Soviet period, many priests were imprisoned, many churches were converted to other uses or fell into disrepair, and people who publicly professed religious beliefs were denied prestigious jobs and admission to universities. While it is likely that some share of the population continued, in private, to identify with the Orthodox Church and other religious groups, it is impossible to measure the extent to which these attachments survived underground during the Soviet period and to what extent they faded away.
more at link
= new reply since forum marked as read
In the mid-90s Putin had a huge cathedral rebuilt that have been blown up by the Soviets in the 1930s.
Church of Christ the Saviour.
and even the Communists didn't destroy the cathedrals inside the Kremlin walls.
but we were in the honored guest category, and got taken to the trendiest restaurant in the city, for instance. Not the average tourist gig. We had a fascinating discussion with two Russians at a formal dinner, one old and cynical, another young and idealistic. The upshot is that Moscow is like its own country, that within 40 miles are villages that have no electricity and essentially live in the 19th century. At this time, for Muscovites to use the Internet, the servers were all in Finland.
Moscow also has the most amazing subway system, with 13 million riding every day. Here is one of the stations:
Many think St. Petersburg more interesting as a center of culture.
I think Russia looks pretty great in the winter Olympics.
I haven't seen a city in the US that comes close to that.
I haven't really gotten much of a feel for Russia while watching the Olympics and probably couldn't find Sochi on a map.
