Lent in the Lives of Russians
Press release from VTsIOM, 21 April 2008
The All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) has issued data about which religions and worldviews Russians consider themselves adherents of, the proportion who observe Lent, what kind of restrictions they impose upon themselves, and what spiritual meaning they see in it.
Of Russians surveyed, 73% consider themselves adherents of Orthodoxy, 6% of Islam, and less than 1% of other confessions. Another 3% consider themselves believers but they do not belong to any specific confession; 7% waver between faith and unbelief, and 10% categorize themselves as nonbelievers. The number of nonbelievers and waverers is higher among young people between 18 and 24 years of age (22%) than among those of middle and advanced age (15-17%); and the number of Orthodox increased from 65% among youth up to 76% among respondents sixty and older. In the group surveyed those having high school education include fewer Orthodox (65%) than among those with some higher education (75%) and much fewer than those without high school education (82%). In the central and northwestern federal districts the number of Orthodox is higher (79-81%) than in other regions, especially the Volga district (63%) where there is the highest proportion of Muslims (17%); the second greatest concentration of Muslims is in the southern district (9%). The greatest proportion of nonbelievers (14-16%) is found in the northwestern, Urals, and Siberian districts.
At the time of Lent [Russian = "Great Fast"] the majority of respondents (83%) maintain their usual diet; 16% of those surveyed improve their diet and 4% of them intend to fast during the last week before Paskha, 9% observe a partial fast, and only 3% observe the fast completely. In the past ten years the proportion of respondents who fast more or less has dropped from 20% to 16%. This year 21% of Orthodox will fast partially, while 6% of adherents of other religions and 3-4% of nonbelievers and waverers will.
Among the restrictions which Lent observers impose upon themselves, the most have to do with diet: 33% of respondents eliminate from their diet all animal products, 14% abstain from meat only, while 29% decrease the use of certain food products and 2% give up alcohol. Some respondents impose restrictions upon themselves of a different variety: some try to relax and be moderate or not to think bad thoughts (21%); some go to church, pray, and read religious literature (14%) or help the needy and try to do good (7%).
About half of Russians (47%) have difficulty defining the spiritual meaning of Lent. One quarter (27%) see its essence as primarily a spiritual cleansing and deliverance from sinful urges. One tenth consider that Lent should purify the organism. Fewer respondents note that it is a time of repentance and union with God (6%) or of evaluation of one's deeds and self (4%). Others consider it a time of training the spirit and will, refraining from that which is carnal and sinful, doing good deeds, prayer, and attending church, while some consider it a tradition that should be observed (1-3% in each case).
The VTsIOM survey was conducted 12-13 April 2008 among 1600 participations in 153 locations in 46 provinces, territories, and republics of Russia. The margin of error is 3.4%. (tr. by PDS, posted 26 April 2008)
Source: http://www.stetson.edu/~psteeves/relnews