Moscow, Russia - Over half of the Russian polled (54%) have trust in the Russian Orthodox Church and some 70% have trust in Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and Russia personally. These are the results of the studies undertaken by sociologists of the Bashkirov and Partners center in Moscow.
According to the poll they conducted, about 70% of the respondents claim to be believers, with 10% of them attending divine services at least once a month and 15% celebrating major religious feasts.
The study has shown that the interest in religion is pronounced most of all in the Central Region, Transvolga Region and the Far East. Those who are interested in religious life most of all are young people from 15 to 30 years of age.
The poll was conducted in all the regions in Russia. The number of the participants was 1500. The study registered the sex, age and education of the respondent.
In the course of the Christmas Readings, which have continued in Moscow on Wednesday, the director of the socio-political department of the Bashkirov and Partners center, Alexander Muzafarov, informed participants that the number of Russians who have never attended religious services has decreased by 20%.
‘Russians do not want to see religious leaders interfering in the political life of the country, while wishing to see believers among politicians’, he said.