Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe
In recent years, Orthodox shares fairly stable
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- Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe
- In Orthodox-majority countries, higher support for public funding of the church
- In Orthodox-majority countries, more people express traditional views of gender norms in marriage
- In Orthodox-majority countries, majorities say their culture is superior
- People in former Soviet republics see their countries are more religious today than in 1970s and 1980s
- Majorities in Orthodox countries look to Russia to counter the West
- More people in Orthodox-majority countries say governments should support spread of religious values
- No regional consensus on whether people are better off living in a diverse or homogeneous society
- Stronger support for patriarch of Moscow than patriarch of Constantinople
- Homosexuality widely seen as morally wrong
- Religious landscape of Central and Eastern Europe
- Regional divisions in Ukraine
- Religious majorities in Central and Eastern Europe
- Political affiliations of surveyed countries
- On balance, acceptance of Jews higher among Catholics; acceptance of Muslims higher among Orthodox
- Across Central and Eastern Europe, lower acceptance of Roma than other groups
- Among both Orthodox and Catholics, some hesitation about accepting the other as a family member
- No regional consensus that democracy is preferable to other forms of government
- People in Georgia, Russia, Armenia and Moldova more likely to have a favorable view of Stalin than Gorbachev
- Dissolution of USSR seen as a good thing in Baltic countries, bad thing in most other former Soviet republics surveyed
- Support for Russia as buffer against West more widespread among those who see value conflict with Western countries
- In most Orthodox-majority countries, Russia seen as buffer against West
- More adults in eastern than western Ukraine look to Russia as protector of ethnic Russians
- Ethnic Russians agree Russia has responsibility to protect them
- In Orthodox-majority countries, widespread support for Russia protecting Orthodox Christians
- Higher acceptance of legal gay marriage among younger adults
- Fewer than half of adults in Central and Eastern Europe say they pray daily
- Large majorities of adults in most Central and Eastern European countries believe in God
- In recent years, Orthodox shares fairly stable
- Since 1991, substantial rise in share of Orthodox Christians in Russia
- Religious landscape of Central and Eastern Europe
- Strong association, especially in Orthodox-majority countries, between religion and national identity
- Relatively low shares of Orthodox across Central and Eastern Europe attend church weekly
- Decline in share of Catholics in Lithuania
- Catholic shares declining in parts of Central Europe
- In Eastern Europe, sharp rise in share of adults who describe themselves as Orthodox Christians