Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe
In Eastern Europe, sharp rise in share of adults who describe themselves as Orthodox Christians
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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