Religion and the russian orthodox church

Abstract

Russia is a multi-confessional country. According to the Levada Centre, the national breakdown is roughly as follows: Orthodox (74 per cent), Catholicism (1 per cent), Protestantism (1 per cent), Islam (1 per cent), Judaism (1 per cent), Buddhism (less than 1 per cent) and Hinduism (less than 1 per cent). Other religions are listed at less than 1 per cent, while some 5 per cent of Russians identify themselves as atheist. Still, the Russian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate (ROC), with its many parishes, fancies itself as the core institution of Russian religiosity (41 per cent of Russian Orthodox formally associate with the ROC). Indeed, the ROC is a socioreligious institution and has significant influence on the sociocultural composition of Russian society, as well as on the Russian mentality.