The Russian Church is rapidly losing its influence on Russians, so Putin is betting on Islam.
According to the survey by the All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Studies, in 2022, 51% of Russians note the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church primarily on the spiritual and moral state of society, while in 2012, the share was 63%, Russian media reported.
Some 31% of surveyed Russians believe that the Russian Orthodox Church is too actively involved in the life of society and the state. They believe that the Moscow Patriarchate should pay more attention to spiritual and moral issues, rather than social and state ones. Another 30% believe that the Russian Orthodox Church builds relations with the state exactly as it should. Another 12% of respondents believe that the Russian Orthodox Church has insufficient influence on public life.
A third of respondents (33%) say that the Russian Orthodox Church should deal only with religious issues, without interfering in the life of society, 45% – that the Church should influence the moral and spiritual life of the entire society, but not interfere in politics and state affairs. Only 13% of respondents think that the Russian Orthodox Church should take an active part in solving social and state issues.
Also, 9% of respondents are sure that the Church has a strong influence on the life of Russian society. Another 25% think that the ROC affects it, albeit insignificantly. 48% of respondents are sure that the Moscow Patriarchate has practically no influence on public life.
It should be recalled that the Russian Orthodox Church complains about problems with deploying chaplains to the war against Ukraine, due to problems with the social security package. The ROC also refers to Russia’s attack on Ukraine as “defense.”
