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Christianity in Russia


Christianity in Russia is by some estimates the largest religion in the country, with nearly 50% of the population identifying as Christian. The largest tradition is the Russian Orthodox Church. According to official sources, there are 68 eparchies of the Russian Orthodox Church. There are from 500,000 to one million Old Believers, who represent an older form of Russian Orthodox Christianity, and who separated from the Orthodox Church in the 17th century as a protest against Patriarch Nikon's church reforms.

The Roman Catholic Church estimates that there are from 600,000 to 1.5 million Catholics in the country, exceeding government estimates of about 140,000. There is one Roman Catholic Archdiocese (Mother of God at Moscow) with three suffragan dioceses (Saint Clement at Saratov, Saint Joseph at Irkutsk, Transfiguration at Novosibirsk) and the Apostolic Prefecture of Yuzhno Sakhalinsk. According to the Slavic Center for Law and Justice, Protestants make up the second or third largest group of Christians in Russia, with approximately 3,500 organizations and more than 1 million followers. A large number of missionaries operating in the country are from Protestant denominations.

There is no official census of religion in Russia, and estimates are based on surveys only. According to a 2012 Sreda Arena survey, 46.6% of the Russian population is Christian, including 41% Russian Orthodox. However, later that year the Levada Center determined that 76% of Russians are Christians, and in June 2013 the Public Opinion Foundation determined that 65% of Russians are Christians. These findings are consistent with Pew's 2011 survey (73.6%), VTSIOM's 2010 survey (77%), and Ipsos MORI's 2011 survey (69%). A 2015 study estimated about 10,000 Christians from a Muslim background.

The Russian "law on non-governmental organizations" that took effect in April 2007 requires non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Christian churches, to register with state agencies, list their funding sources, and provide records of all meetings. In June 2016, Russia passed an anti-terrorism law that bans proselytizing and missionary activities. On July 8, 2016 the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) strongly condemned these measures stating, "Under the guise of confronting terrorism, they would grant authorities sweeping powers to curtail civil liberties, including setting broad restrictions on religious practices that would make it very difficult for religious groups to operate." An article in The Christian Post, discussing the ban on proselytizing stated, "Human rights and religious freedom advocates argue that the law 'doesn't do that much to defend from terrorism and only prevents Christians and others who are not Orthodox from preaching and proselytizing.'" In 2017, the USCIRF reclassified Russia as one of the world's worst violators of religious liberty, recommending that the US government deem Russia a "country of particular concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act.


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