What is the Russian religion and population? Main religious denominations on the territory of the Russian Federation

Religion in Russia The current (1993) Constitution of Russia defines the Russian Federation as a secular state. The Constitution guarantees “freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, including the right to profess, individually or in community with others, any religion or not to profess any, to freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and to act in accordance with them.” Federal Law of September 26, 1997 No. 125-FZ “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations” confirms “equality before the law regardless of attitude to religion and beliefs.”

Religious and national restrictions, which were legally enshrined in the laws of the Russian Empire, were abolished by the Provisional Government on March 20, 1917.

In Russia there is no special federal government body designed to monitor compliance with legislation by religious associations (which in the USSR was the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR); but, according to experts, amendments made in July 2008 to the Federal Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations” dated September 26, 1997, may indicate the impending creation of a corresponding “authorized executive body.” On August 26, 2008, it was reported that by decree of the President of the Republic of Tatarstan M. Shaimiev, the Council for Religious Affairs under the Cabinet of Ministers of Tatarstan was transformed into the Directorate for Religious Affairs, thus regaining the powers of a state body.

The main religions represented in Russia are Christianity (mainly Orthodoxy, there are also Catholics and Protestants), as well as Islam and Buddhism.

Total number of believers

In Russia today there are no official statistics on membership in religious organizations: the law prohibits requiring citizens to declare their religious affiliation. Thus, the religiosity of Russians and their religious self-identification can only be judged by sociological surveys of the population. The results of such surveys are very contradictory.

According to the Russian Independent Institute of Social and National Problems (2007), 47% of respondents call themselves believers in God. Of these, almost half have never opened the Bible, only 10% regularly attend church, observe all rites and rituals, and 43% go to church only on holidays.

According to an all-Russian survey conducted by VTsIOM in March 2010, the country's population considers itself to be among the following denominations:

• Orthodoxy - 75%
• Islam - 5%
• Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Buddhism - 1% each
• Other faiths - about 1%
• Non-believers - 8%

In addition, 3% of respondents expressed the opinion that they are believers, but do not identify themselves with any specific denomination. At the same time, only 66% of Russians observe religious rituals, and then only on holidays or occasionally. For comparison: according to a 2006 survey, all rituals of their religion were observed by 22% of all believers (regardless of denominational affiliation).

Christianity in Russia

All three main directions of Christianity are represented in Russia - Orthodoxy, Catholicism and Protestantism. In addition, there are followers of various new Christian movements, cults and sects.

Orthodoxy

Federal Law of September 26, 1997 No. 125-FZ “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations,” which replaced the RSFSR Law of October 25, 1990 No. 267-I “On Freedom of Religion,” contains in the preamble recognition of “the special role of Orthodoxy in history Russia."

Orthodoxy (as the term is understood by government agencies and religious scholars) in the Russian Federation is represented by the Russian Orthodox Church, Old Believer associations, as well as a number of non-canonical (alternative) Orthodox organizations of the Russian tradition.

The Russian Orthodox Church is the largest religious association in Russia. The Russian Orthodox Church considers itself historically the first Christian community in Russia: the official state foundation was laid by the holy Prince Vladimir in 988, according to traditional historiography.

According to the head of the Russian Social Movement, political scientist Pavel Svyatenkov (January 2009), the Russian Orthodox Church de facto occupies a special position in modern Russian society and political life:

Researcher Nikolai Mitrokhin wrote (2006):

Prevalence of Orthodoxy in Russia

According to an all-Russian survey conducted by VTsIOM in March 2010, 75% of Russians consider themselves Orthodox Christians, while only 54% of them are familiar with the contents of the Bible. About 73% of Orthodox respondents observe religious customs and holidays.

The head of the sociological department of the Institute of Public Design, Mikhail Askoldovich Tarusin, commented on these data:

This number doesn't show much.<...>If these data can be considered an indicator of anything, it is only modern Russian national identity. But not real religious affiliation.<...>If we consider those who participate in the Sacraments of Confession and Communion at least once or twice a year as Orthodox “church” people, then the number of Orthodox is 18-20%.<...>Thus, about 60% of VTsIOM respondents Orthodox people are not. Even if they go to church, it is several times a year, as if to some kind of domestic service - to bless a cake, to take baptismal water... And some of them don’t even go then, moreover, many may not believe in God, but This is why they call themselves Orthodox.

According to analysts, sociological survey data indicate that the majority identifies themselves with Orthodoxy on the basis of national identity.

Orthodox observance of church rites

According to a survey conducted by VTsIOM in 2006, only 9% of respondents who called themselves Orthodox noted that they observed all religious rituals and participated in church life. At the same time, 36% noted that Orthodoxy is a tradition of their ancestors for them. According to a survey conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation in January-February 2010, only 4% of Orthodox Russians regularly attend church and receive communion.

According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, people attending religious services make up less than 2% of the population. Thus, on Easter 2003, in the period from 20:00 Holy Saturday to 6 am of Easter Sunday, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 63 thousand people entered Moscow churches (compared to 180 thousand in 1992-1994), that is, about half of one percentage of the city's actual population. 4.5 million Russians took part in Easter services on the night of April 19, 2009. At the same time, 5.1 million people visited cemeteries on Easter. About 2.3 million Russians took part in Christmas services from January 6 to 7, 2008.

On January 10, 2008, the head of the press service of the Moscow Patriarchate, priest Vladimir Vigilyansky, expressed his disagreement with the statistics of attendance at the capital’s churches for Christmas, which were previously cited by law enforcement agencies, saying: “The official figures are very underestimated. It always amazes me where these numbers come from and what the purpose of this approach is. I think we can safely say that about a million believers visited Moscow churches for Christmas this year.” A similar opinion was expressed in April 2008 by DECR employee priest Mikhail Prokopenko.

Percentage of Russians attending church services

According to Andrei Kuraev, the problem is related to the acute shortage of churches in Moscow. He claims that, according to sociological estimates, about 5% of Muscovites are actively involved in the church, and churches can accommodate only a fifth.

The decline of practical religiosity in the Russian Orthodox Church compared to the 90s of the 20th century was noted in 2003 by Patriarch Alexy II: “Temples are emptying. And they are emptying not only because the number of churches is increasing.”.

According to a 2008 VTsIOM survey, 27% of respondents who called themselves Orthodox do not know any of the Ten Commandments. Only 56% of survey participants were able to remember the commandment “thou shalt not kill.”

Archpriest Alexander Kuzin, commenting on the results of a VTsIOM survey, according to which the majority of Russians call on the church to reconsider moral standards, noted:

Catholicism

The historical presence of Latin Christianity in the lands of the Eastern Slavs dates back to the early times of Kievan Rus. IN different times attitude of the rulers Russian state towards Catholics varied from complete rejection to benevolence. Currently, the Catholic community in Russia numbers several hundred thousand people.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Catholic Church continued to operate freely in Russia for some time, but from the beginning of the 20s, the Soviet government began a policy of eradicating Catholicism in Russia. In the 20s and 30s of the 20th century, many Catholic priests were arrested and shot, almost all churches were closed and looted. Almost all active parishioners were repressed and exiled. In the period after the Great Patriotic War, only two functioning Catholic churches remained in the RSFSR, the Church of St. Louis in Moscow and the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Leningrad.

Since the early 1990s, the Catholic Church has been able to function freely in Russia. Two Apostolic Administrations were created for Latin Rite Catholics, which were later transformed into dioceses; as well as the College of Catholic Theology and the Higher Theological Seminary.

According to the Federal Registration Service for December 2006, there are about 230 parishes operating in Russia, a quarter of which do not have church buildings. Organizationally, the parishes are united into four dioceses, which together make up the metropolis:

• Archdiocese of the Mother of God
• Diocese of Transfiguration in Novosibirsk
• Diocese of St. Joseph in Irkutsk
• Diocese of St. Clement in Saratov

The estimate of the number of Catholics in Russia is approximate. In 1996-1997 there were from 200 to 500 thousand people.

Protestantism

Protestantism is represented in Russia by the following denominations:

• Lutheranism
• Evangelical Christian Baptists
• Christians of the Evangelical Faith (Pentecostals)
• Mennonites
• Seventh-day Adventists

Lutheranism

• Lutheran Church in Russia

Others

Antitrinitarians

Jehovah witnesses

Number Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia as of March 2010 it is 162,182 people. In 2010, about 6,600 people in Russia were baptized as Jehovah's Witnesses. Despite the constant growth of the organization's membership, they still remain a religious minority in Russia, making up about 0.2% of the country's population.

• Christadelphians

Spiritual Christianity

• Molokans
• Doukhobors.

Islam

According to experts (during the last census the question about religious affiliation was not asked), there are about 8 million Muslims in Russia. According to the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European Part of the Russian Federation, about 20 million Muslims live in Russia. According to VTsIOM data based on the results of an all-Russian survey (January 2010), the share of those calling themselves followers of Islam (as a worldview or religion) in Russia in 2009 decreased from 7% to 5% of respondents.

Among them, the majority are so-called “ethnic” Muslims who do not comply with the requirements of the Muslim faith and consider themselves to be Islam due to tradition or place of residence (there are especially many of these in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan). The communities in the Caucasus (excluding the Christian region of North Ossetia) are stronger.

The majority of Muslims live in the Volga-Ural region, as well as in the North Caucasus, Moscow, St. Petersburg and Western Siberia.

Religious organizations and leaders

• Talgat Tadzhuddin is the Grand Mufti (Mufti Sheikh-ul-Islam) of the Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia and the European CIS countries (CDUM) (Ufa).
• Ravil Gainutdin is the chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, the head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European part of Russia (Moscow).
• Nafigulla Ashirov is the head of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Asian part of Russia, co-chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia.
• Muhammad-haji Rakhimov is the chairman of the Russian Association of Islamic Harmony (All-Russian Muftiate), Mufti of Russia (Moscow).
• Magomed Albogachiev - acting. O. Chairman of the Muslim Coordination Center North Caucasus.

Islam in Russian history

In a number of lands that are now part of Russia, Islam existed for centuries as the state religion. During the Islamic period of the Golden Horde (1312-1480), Christian principalities were vassals of Muslim uluses and khanates. After the unification of the Russian lands by Ivan III and his successors, some of the Muslim khanates began to depend on Orthodox monarchy, and part was annexed by the Russian state.

Islam was first adopted as a state religion in Volga Bulgaria in 922 (modern Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Ulyanovsk and Samara regions). The competition between Volga Bulgaria and Kievan Rus ended in the middle of the 13th century, when both states were conquered by the Tatar-Mongols. In 1312 in Ulus Jochi(Golden Horde) adopted Islam as the state religion. State power placed the princes subordinate to the emirs, baskaks and other representatives of the Tatar-Mongol khans. The civil law in the Ulus of Jochi was the Great Yasa, whose authority went back to Genghis Khan. The most important decisions were made jointly by the nobility at kurultai. On the territory of Ulus Jochi, the practice of the Christian faith was allowed, although the Orthodox metropolitan and clergy, under pain of death, were charged with the duty of “praying to God for the khan, his family and his army.”

The successors of Ulus Jochi were the Great Horde ( Ulug Ulus, 1433-1502), Nogai Horde (XIV-XVIII centuries), as well as a number of khanates, some of which survived on the territory of Russia until the end of the 18th century. For example, until 1783, part of the Crimean Khanate was located on the territory of the Krasnodar Territory.

In 1552, Ivan IV the Terrible, through conquest, annexed the Kazan khanate, and in 1556 the Astrakhan khanate. Gradually, other Islamic states were annexed to Tsarist Rus' and Russia by military means.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the North Caucasus territories, populated predominantly by Muslims, were included in the Russian Empire.

According to the 2002 All-Russian Census, the Tatars occupy the second largest place among the peoples inhabiting modern Russia (more than 5.5 million people). Tatars make up the vast majority of Muslims in Russia and are the northernmost Muslim people in the world. Traditionally, Tatar Islam has always been distinguished by moderation and the absence of fanaticism. Tatar women often played an important role in the social life of the Tatars. One of the very first Muslim women to become heads of state was Syuyumbike, the queen of the Kazan Khanate in the 16th century.

Simultaneously with the collapse of the USSR, the collapse of the united spiritual administrations began in the country. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the North Caucasus split into 7 directorates, after which two more were formed. Then the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European Part of the USSR and Siberia, with its center in Ufa, collapsed. The first to emerge from its composition was the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan, then Bashkortostan, followed by the formation of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Siberia.

Only in 1993 did the reverse process begin and a decision was made to create the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the European part of Russia. In July 1996, the heads of the most authoritative spiritual departments decided to create the Council of Muftis of Russia. The Council meets at least twice a year for extended meetings with the participation of leaders of Islamic educational institutions. The Chairman of the Council is elected for 5 years.

Muslims of the North Caucasus created their own coordination center. At the same time, the spiritual administrations of Muslims of the Chechen Republic, the Republic of North Ossetia, the Republic of Adygea, and the Republic of Ingushetia are also included in the Council of Muftis of Russia.

Judaism

The number of Jews is about 1.5 million. Of these, according to the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia (FEOR), about 500 thousand live in Moscow, and about 170 thousand live in St. Petersburg. There are about 70 synagogues in Russia.

Along with FEOR, another large association of religious Jewish communities is the Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Associations in Russia.

According to the 2002 census, the official number of Jews in Russia is 233,439 people.

Buddhism

Buddhism is traditional in three regions of the Russian Federation: Buryatia, Tuva and Kalmykia. According to the Buddhist Association of Russia, the number of people professing Buddhism is 1.5-2 million.

The number of “ethnic Buddhists” in Russia, in accordance with the data of the All-Russian Population Census held in 2002, was: Buryats - 445 thousand people, Kalmyks - 174 thousand and Tuvans - 243 thousand people; total - no more than 900 thousand people.

In the 90s of the 20th century, through the efforts of foreign missionaries and domestic devotees, Buddhist communities began to appear in large cities, usually belonging to the Far Eastern school of Zen or the Tibetan direction.

The world's northernmost Datsan "Gunzechoiney", built before the Revolution in Petrograd, now serves as a tourist and religious center of Buddhist culture. Preparations are underway to build a Buddhist temple in Moscow, which could unite Buddhists around it in joint practice.

Other forms of religion and paganism

The indigenous inhabitants of the Siberian and Far Eastern regions, as well as part of the Finno-Ugric peoples (Mari, Udmurts, etc.) and Chuvash, along with the officially professed Orthodoxy, more or less retain elements of traditional beliefs. Depending on the preservation of the traditional element, their beliefs can be characterized as shamanism or folk Orthodoxy. The term “folk Orthodoxy” (Christianity that has absorbed many pagan elements) can also be applied to the majority of Russians, especially those living in rural areas.

Many peoples of Russia are attempting to revive traditional beliefs. All received religious movements denote general term"neopaganism".

In the urban environment, in addition to traditional religions, new religious movements of the occult, oriental (Tantrism, etc.) and neo-pagan (the so-called “Rodnoverie”, etc.) are widespread.

Religion and State

Russia, according to the Constitution, is a secular state in which no religion can be established as state or compulsory. The dominant trend in modern Russia is the clericalization of the country - the gradual implementation of a model with a dominant (some argue - state) religion. In practice, in Russia there is no clear demarcation line between the state and religion, beyond which state life ends and confessional life begins. Some supporters of Orthodoxy believe that the separation of religious associations from the state proclaimed by the Constitution is a consequence of communist stereotypes in public opinion. V. Kuvakin, a member of the RAS Commission for Combating Pseudoscience and Falsification of Scientific Research, considers the desire to turn Orthodoxy into a state religion, that is, into a state ideology, a big historical mistake by the current leadership of Russia, which directly contradicts the Constitution.

Clericalization

Religion penetrates into almost all spheres of public life, including those areas that, according to the Constitution, are separated from religion: government bodies, schools, the army, science and education. Thus, the State Duma agreed with the Moscow Patriarchate to conduct preliminary consultations on all issues that raise doubts. In Russian schools appeared academic subjects“Fundamentals of Religious Cultures”, in some state universities there is a specialty in theology. IN staffing table The Russian Armed Forces have a new position - a military priest (chaplain). A number of ministries, departments, government agencies has its own religious temples; often these ministries and departments have public councils for covering religious topics. January 7 (Orthodox Christmas) is an official non-working holiday in Russia.

Religious culture in schools

The introduction of the course “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” into the curriculum of general education public schools on an optional basis began in certain regions of the country in the late 1990s. Since 2006, the course has become mandatory in four regions: Belgorod, Kaluga, Bryansk and Smolensk. Since 2007, it was planned to add several more regions to them. The experience of introducing the course in the Belgorod region was criticized and supported. Supporters of the subject and representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church argued that “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” is a cultural course that does not aim to introduce students to religious life. They emphasized that acquaintance with Orthodox culture can also be useful for representatives of other faiths. Opponents of the course pointed out that, in accordance with the law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations,” the state must ensure the secular nature of education, that according to the Constitution, all religions are equal before the law and none of them can be established as state religions, and also that compulsory study such a subject violates the rights of schoolchildren belonging to other religions and atheists.

Since April 1, 2010, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation has included the subject “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics” in the school curriculum as a federal component, first experimentally in 19 regions of Russia, and if the experiment is successful, in all regions since 2012. The subject includes 6 modules, from which students, at their choice or the choice of their parents (legal representatives), can choose one to study:

• "Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture"
• "Fundamentals of Islamic Culture"
• "Fundamentals of Buddhist Culture"
• "Fundamentals of Jewish culture"
• "Fundamentals of world religious cultures"
• "Fundamentals of Secular Ethics"

The experts made an unequivocal conclusion that the use of textbooks on modules on the foundations of religious cultures, published in 2010, is inadmissible in Russian schools. The textbooks contain numerous signs of a gross violation of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and aggressively impose on students a certain religious ideology that is openly hostile to the secular state. The textbooks are scientifically untenable; they do not define the concept of “religious culture” and instead introduce a flatly presented religious doctrine, leading to the replacement of culture with creed. No scientific discussion of these textbooks was intended; the process of creating the textbook in terms of modules on the foundations of religious cultures was deliberately planned in such a way as to completely transfer it to the confessions, removing scientists from any participation.

Discussion around academics' letters

In August 2007, the so-called “letter from academicians” caused a resonance in society and the media. Ten academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences, including two Nobel laureates V.L. Ginzburg and Zh.I. Alferov, addressed an open letter to the president of the country, in which they expressed serious concern about the “increasing clericalization Russian society"and the active penetration of the church into all spheres of public life, including the public education system. The letter expressed concern that in schools, instead of a cultural studies subject about religions, they are trying to introduce compulsory teaching of religious doctrine, that the inclusion of the specialty “theology” in the list of scientific specialties of the Higher certification commission will contradict the Russian Constitution. The letter was supported by many public figures, including member of the Public Chamber V.L. Glazychev. The letter and its support by members of the Public Chamber caused sharp criticism from representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church, in particular, Archpriest V. Chaplin and the head of the press service of the Russian Orthodox Church MP V. Vigilyansky. The letter served as an information source for a wide discussion of issues related to the relationship between the church and society.

Interreligious relations

In 1998, the Interreligious Council of Russia (IRC) was created, which unites spiritual leaders and representatives of the four traditional faiths of Russia: Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism and Buddhism. Interreligious relations in Russia are complicated by armed conflicts in the North Caucasus / The interethnic contradictions that exist in Russia between the Slavs and representatives of peoples who traditionally profess Islam (Chechens, Azerbaijanis,...) are complicated by interreligious contradictions. On March 11, 2006, the Council of Muftis of Russia opposed the introduction of the institute of full-time regimental priests in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and the introduction of the subject “Fundamentals of Orthodox Culture” into the curriculum of the country’s secondary schools. A number of muftis expressed disagreement with such statements, noting that they undermine the foundations of interreligious dialogue.

Liquidation and prohibition of the activities of religious organizations in post-Soviet Russia

In 1996, 11 criminal cases were initiated in Russia under Article 239 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Organization of an association that encroaches on the personality and rights of citizens”; in 1997 and 1998 - 2 and 5 cases, respectively.

Since 2002 legal status religious organizations are regulated by the Federal Law “On Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations” No. 125-FZ. According to Article 14 of this Law, a religious organization can be liquidated and its activities prohibited by court order. The basis for this is, in particular, the extremist activity (extremism) of a religious organization as defined in Article 1 of the Federal Law “On Combating Extremist Activities” dated July 25, 2002 No. 114-FZ.

According to the Russian Ministry of Justice, during 2003, 31 local religious organizations were liquidated for gross violations of the provisions of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal legislation. Repeated violations of constitutional norms and legislation were identified in 1 centralized and 8 local religious organizations, which were also liquidated. In addition, for the systematic implementation of activities contrary to the statutory goals, 1 centralized and 12 local religious organizations were liquidated by court decisions. In total, in 2003, 225 religious organizations were liquidated by decisions of the judiciary, including those related to the Russian Orthodox Church - 71, Islam - 42, evangelicalism - 14, Baptists - 13, Pentecostalism - 12, Buddhism - 11.

To date, on the basis of the Federal Law “On Combating Extremist Activities,” court decisions to liquidate or ban the activities of 9 religious organizations have entered into legal force. In particular, such decisions were made in 2004 in relation to 3 religious organizations of the Old Russian Inglistic Church of the Orthodox Old Believers-Inglings, in 2009 - in relation to 1 local religious organization of Jehovah's Witnesses "Taganrog" (as of January 1, 2008, registered in Russia 398 local organizations of Jehovah's Witnesses). There are currently no religious organizations whose activities have been suspended due to their carrying out extremist activities.

The list of religious organizations in respect of which the court has made a final decision to liquidate or prohibit their activities on the grounds provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation, as well as the list of religious organizations whose activities have been suspended in connection with their carrying out extremist activities, is maintained and published by the Ministry of Justice Russian Federation.

At the beginning of 2010, 23,494 religious organizations were registered in Russia.

According to the Constitution, the Russian Federation is a secular state. However, the paradox is that more than a third of Russians believe that the country has a state religion - Orthodoxy.

Constitution of the Russian Federation on religion

The Constitution states that people have the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, can “profess, individually or in community with others, any religion or not profess any, freely choose, have and disseminate religious and other beliefs and act in accordance with them.”

How many believers are there in Russia?

The majority of believers in Russia are Christians (mostly Orthodox, to a lesser extent Catholics and Protestants), Muslims and Buddhists. It is not possible to determine the exact number of people professing a particular religion, since official statistics are not kept, and all data is based solely on sociological surveys, the results of which depend on who conducts them.

Thus, the Russian Orthodox Church, based on its data, claims that approximately 80-82 percent of the country’s population is in its fold. Muslims believe that about 10-25 percent of Russians belong to their faith.

At the same time, according to a 2010 VTsIOM survey, 75 percent of the Russian Orthodox population is Orthodox (with half of all respondents admitting that they have never read the Holy Scriptures), only 5 percent are Muslims, and 8 percent of people consider themselves atheists.

In 2012, an attempt was made to compile an Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of the Russian Federation. According to basic research For him, only 41 percent were Orthodox believers in Russia, about 6.5 percent professed Islam, less than half a percent were Buddhists, and about 14 percent declared themselves non-believers.

It can be assumed that these figures are the most accurate and the number of believers in Russia is indeed much less than stated by representatives of confessions. for example, since 2013 the program for grades 4–5 high school a course “Fundamentals of Religious Cultures and Secular Ethics” has been introduced, within which parents of students can choose one of six program options: the fundamentals of Orthodox, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, world religious cultures or secular ethics. According to the Ministry of Education, the majority of Russians (43 percent) prefer their children to study a secular module, and 31 percent were in favor of an Orthodox one.

Statistics on the number of religious organizations also provide a more or less objective idea of ​​the spread of faith. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, there are more than 30 thousand Orthodox parishes, The Central Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Russia unites more than 2,500 communities (and their number is constantly growing).

Spread of religions in Russia

According to the Atlas of Religions and Nationalities of the Russian Federation, Orthodox believers live throughout the country (the highest percentage is in Central Russia), most Muslims are in the Caucasus, in the republics of Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, and Buddhists are concentrated in the republics of Tyva, Kalmykia and Buryatia. In the republics of Sakha, Altai and North Ossetia, pagan cults are still practiced (1.2 percent of the population), and the most atheistic regions of the state were the Primorsky and Altai territories, the Novosibirsk and Amur regions and the same Republic of Sakha.

The influence of the church on life in Russia

Despite the officially proclaimed secular nature of the state, the latest VTsIOM poll conducted in 2013 showed that 44 percent of Russians consider Orthodoxy to be the state religion of the country, and 56 percent confirmed that Orthodoxy influences different areas their lives.

At the same time, the question remains controversial of what people mean when they recognize themselves as believers. For example, only 4 percent admitted that they fully comply with all the rules of fasting, 16 percent observe fasting fully or partially, and 83 percent of respondents planned to celebrate Easter in various ways. Many religious people are not able to name the day of their name day (and even fewer are those who actually celebrate it).

Superstitions

Although most common traditional religions and approximately 1.2 percent of people officially recognize themselves as pagans, superstitions are still strong in Russia: people don’t like it when a black cat crosses their path, when important events fall on the 13th of the month, they try not to spill salt (it is believed that this will lead to a quarrel) and do not whistle in the room (there will be no money), and also many do not celebrate their 40th birthday.

There are many religious movements in our country. Freedom of conscience and religion, as well as the right to individually or collectively practice any non-aggressive religion and to publicly disseminate its beliefs and actions are guaranteed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Religion in Russia is represented by the main world faiths and their ideological branches. The main one is Christianity, it is professed by the most most of believers. Many citizens, especially in the eastern and southern regions of the country, prefer Islam. In Khakassia, Buryatia and some regions of Altai, the population leans towards Buddhism. In Jewish diasporas throughout the country, Judaism predominates.

Since the time of the baptism of Rus' by the Grand Duke Vladimir the Red Sun, Orthodoxy, borrowed from Ancient Byzantium, has become the dominant trend in Russian Christianity. And only in the western regions of the Russian Federation, adjacent to Belarus and the Baltic states, is Catholic Christianity and Protestantism professed.

So how many religions are there in our state, and what is the number of their adherents? According to RAS data from 2013:

• Orthodox Christianity in Russia is professed by 79 percent of the country's residents;
• spiritual Christianity, which has nothing to do with religion, is represented by 9 percent;
• Muslims make up 4 percent;
• About 1 percent belong to other faiths;
• About 7 percent of Russian people consider themselves atheists.

Thus, the total number of believers in our country, not counting atheists, is close to 93%. Let us consider the features of each religion in Russia separately. All of them have certain historical and national prerequisites and are the spiritual basis for uniting the peoples of the country into one state.

Orthodoxy

The main symbol of Orthodoxy as one of the branches of Christianity is faith in Jesus Christ - the viceroy on earth of the true God and Savior of mankind. According to several versions set out in the canonical and apocryphal Gospels, God the Father sent his son into our sinful world to correct the vices of people, to make them worthy of attention God's Jesus showed people an example of piety and asceticism, and it cost him his life. He was crucified on the cross next to ordinary robbers, but on the third day after death, the resurrection occurred, and he showed people that he really knew how to perform miracles.

The main concept of Christianity is that God is one, but he can exist in three persons at once: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is where the very origin of the word “Trinity” comes from, the doctrine of which was introduced into Christianity by Theophilus of Antilochus at the time of the birth of this religion in the 2nd century AD.

Being born of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit, Jesus appeared on Earth to deliver humanity from Satan, who imposed curses, sinfulness and death on people. Having redeemed these misfortunes by the very fact of his death, the Son of Man rose again and thereby showed others the possibility of atonement for sins before the gates of Paradise, gave faith in the resurrection of everyone and eternal life for all the righteous.

Christianity is personified by the name of the founder - Christ, because he is directly related to the formation of this religion. This man deliberately sacrificed himself for the sake of his other contemporaries and predecessors, who suffered as a result of the excommunication of Adam and Eve from God. Christ again turned the face of God to them and through himself atoned for part of their sin.

Faith in Christ

Why did belief in Christ become one of the world's largest religions? The reason is a holistic worldview, which includes three principles, without which no traditional religion is possible:

1. Belief in the existence of God.
2. Recognition of the ideology of a given religion.
3. Following its canons.

Otherwise, we can only talk about some kind of shamanism, fetishism, magic or something similar, which is an unconventional religious movement, or a pseudo-religion.

An important feature of Orthodoxy is the reliance of God on man. Only man, according to Christ, is the measure of everything in the world. This wisdom came from the philosophers of Ancient Greece. Christianity brought into it only a close connection between man and God. The Almighty corrects a person’s behavior and puts his thoughts in order.

The declaration of Christ's teaching is demonstrated by his "Sermon on the Mount", in which he shows his disciples and followers the true path to the Heavenly Kingdom. This is peculiar moral code Christianity.

The modern world is multifaceted. This also applies to religious movements, as well as their preachers. They impose certain ideals on believers, sometimes at odds with their own standards of life. Orthodoxy in this sense does not impose anything on anyone, but simply calls to believe in God as the highest personification of world justice, which does not conflict with national interests and is an official religion in Russia, the same as Islam, Judaism and Buddhism.

In Orthodoxy, God personifies everything best qualities man - truth, wisdom, love, bliss, goodness, beauty, power, eternal life. All of them are in harmonious relationship with each other.

Catholicism

The term “Catholicism,” which means “universal” in Greek, was first introduced by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, a follower of John the Theologian, in 110 AD. It was later formalized by the Council of Nicaea. This term indicated the beginning of a schism between the Byzantine and Roman Christian churches, which concerned mainly some basic church rituals.

This doctrine, just like Orthodoxy, is focused on the Holy Scriptures, the Bible and the Catechism, which sets out the sacraments of the Catholic Church. There are seven of them:

• baptism, the procedure of which is described in the canonical gospels;
• sacrament of marriage;
• confirmation, or anointing;
• Eucharist;
• sacrament of confession;
• consecration with oil;
• sacrament of the priesthood.

Besides, in Catholic faith doctrinal provisions are taken into account that distinguish it from other faiths that make up Christianity:

• For Catholics, the Holy Spirit comes equally from the Father and the Son, and not from one of them (this is expressed by the term “filioque”);
• The Virgin Mary conceived immaculately, only then did her pregnancy with Christ turn into bodily form;
• Sinners who deviate from the teachings of the Catholic Church end up in Purgatory;
• Repentant sinners receive indulgences that forgive their sins;
• Cult of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
• Exaltation of saints, martyrs, blessed ones with honors equal to God;
• Assertion of the dominion of the Roman Church over all the Catholic Churches of the world as the direct successor of St. Peter the Apostle;
• Strict subordination of all branches of the Catholic Church (compare: the Orthodox Church is autocephalous, that is, independent of any other church);
• The infallibility of the Pope in all matters relating to faith in God and morality.
• The sanctity of marriage. It cannot be terminated only at the wishes of the parties, only with the permission of the church.

The difference between the Orthodox and Catholic churches

The difference between the Orthodox and Catholic churches also concerns rituals. Latin rituals have their own characteristics:

• the name of the Son is always added to the creed of God in the filioque;
• in any church parish there must be a priest;
• Baptism among Catholics is carried out not by immersion in water, as in Orthodoxy, but by sprinkling the head with water;
• Confirmation can only be carried out by a bishop; a simple priest has the right to do this only if the death of the person being confessed is approaching;
• at the Eucharist, not leavened bread is used, like the Orthodox, but unleavened bread;
• laity receive communion with the Body or Blood of Christ, priests receive communion only with the Body and Blood, that is, full communion;
• The sign of the cross among Catholics is made from left to right and with all fingers of the hand, since they symbolize precisely the five wounds of Christ during the crucifixion.

Protestantism

Protestantism is one of the directions of Christianity, as important as Catholicism and Orthodoxy. It is a religious association of Protestant churches, ideologically originating from the era of the Reformation and opposing classical Catholicism in Europe, making it either more liberal or more conservative.

Protestant theology was formed in the 16th-17th centuries. The main ideologists of Protestant teaching during the Reformation were John Calvin, Martin Luther, Philip Melanchthon, and Ulrich Zwingli. Later it was developed by A. Harnack, F. Schleiermacher, E. Troeltsch and others. A new trend in Protestant theology marks the theology of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

The basis of Protestantism is the same beliefs in God, in his trinity, heaven and hell, the immortality of the human soul, as Christians. But unlike Catholics, Protestants reject the image of Purgatory, believing that only faith in Christ - his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection from the dead - can give final forgiveness to sinners.

Protestants believe that the only source of Christian teaching is the Bible. Studying its canons and applying them in one’s own practice is the most important task of true believers. At the same time, Protestant missionaries are trying to make the Bible accessible to all believers, translating it into all their national languages. This book, which is essentially the history of the ordeals of the Jewish people, has become an indisputable authority for Protestants. With its help, all other religious teachings, actions and opinions are evaluated. Anything that is not confirmed in the Bible is not subject to the fulfillment of believers.

• The indisputability of Holy Scripture.
• The priesthood is for all believers without exception.
• Salvation through personal faith.

Towards faith, the doctrine of salvation, the church and the sacraments, Protestant theology in its classic look is very strict. The external, ritual side of church life becomes less significant for Protestants. Hence the wide variety of formalities while simultaneously observing the basic tenets of the doctrine.

Teachings in Protestantism

Time has formed many of its own teachings in Protestantism. Some of them began to go beyond classical doctrines. For example, convincing adherents of certain teachings that they possess a prophetic gift. This is how the Seventh-day Adventist sect and some other movements were formed, based on the revelations and visions of their founders.

Of all the sacraments that Protestants adhere to, only two are supported by all teachings - communion and the sacrament of baptism. All others are considered conditional. In this case, baptism can be performed at any age, while in order to receive the sacrament the candidate must undergo confirmation - a special preparatory ritual.

Confession and marriage, as well as other similar sacraments among Protestants, are simply considered traditional rites. They also welcome prayers in honor of the dead and saints, although they treat them with respect. They do not worship the relics of the dead, considering this ritual to be inconsistent with the Holy Scriptures and reminiscent of ordinary idolatry.

In the houses of worship, adherents of this faith do not have any of the decorations common to most churches. Prayers can be performed in any buildings that are completely unsuited for worship, because, according to the conviction of believers, it should not be focused on contemplation beautiful interior, but on prayers, singing psalms, church sermons and singing hymns in the language of the flock.

Spiritual Christianity

Spiritual Christianity includes several movements that appeared in Russia at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. The most famous of them:

• Doukhobors;
• Molokans;
• eunuchs;
• Khlysty, or believers of Christ.

All these, as they called themselves, people of God lacked any Orthodox orthodoxy in their worship services. This can most likely be explained simply by the poverty of the flock, which came from runaway serfs. That is why they were persecuted in Russia during both the imperial and Soviet periods.

Whips

The Khlysty are the oldest non-traditional movement in the spiritual Orthodox Christianity of Rus'. According to one version, it developed from the Old Believers during the persecution of them by the official Orthodox Church under Patriarch Nikon and Emperor Alexei Mikhailovich. Later, the Khlysty sect split into several communities that were completely independent of each other, so their cult became different in many ways.

The Bible is interpreted by Christian believers as an allegory that allows the believer to communicate with God, the Son and the Holy Spirit directly without intermediaries in the form of the Orthodox Church. According to their belief, God is incarnated in a righteous person, and then he becomes a kind of image of Christ - a whip, a prophet or the Mother of God.

The religious tradition of the Christian believers was very ascetic. Basically, it consisted of so-called zeal - prayer rituals that brought believers to ecstasy and even clouding of consciousness. For some time, the Khlysts still attended Orthodox churches, then they formed their own communities, which they called “ships.” After the abolition of Serfdom, these ships acquired their own symbolic names, such as Old or New Israel and Postniks.

The Soviet government, not inclined to recognize religion in general, also persecuted the Khlys. The number of their communities decreased significantly and by about the mid-70s of the last century there was no longer any information about the activities of the Khlys in Russia.

Skoptsy

They are the radical wing of the opposition Orthodox Christianity. Etymologically it goes back to whips. Kondraty Selivanov, its founder, declared himself the son of God and began to preach the physical blindness of his flock (skopchestvo) as the only remedy for worldly temptation, leading to the salvation of the soul.

In contrast to Christianity, which affected mainly the peasantry, skopchestvo gained popularity among the merchants, even among the nobles. The latter circumstance gave their communities significant wealth. During the period of collectivization, this played a cruel joke on them. The Skoptsi communities were destroyed as kulaks.

Molokans

These are one of the later branches of Russian spiritual Christianity, essentially classical Protestantism. The Bible here acts as the basic law of behavior for believers. At their prayer meetings, the Molokans read texts from the Holy Scriptures. The Molokans do not welcome any religious rites, not even baptism with water. They are baptized with the Holy Spirit, that is, with constant faith in God. Piety is paramount to them, just as it is to Protestants.

By the end of the 19th century, the Molokans were divided into regulars and “jumpers”. Last title reflects a feature of the prayer ritual: they raise their arms and jump during ecstasy. Because of their eccentricity, many Molokans were exiled to the Caucasus or emigrated to America.

Currently, Molokan centers operate in all major cities of the country. Basically they represent permanent Molokans, close to Protestants, but Russian.

Dukhobretsy

Russian Doukhobors are also close to Protestantism. They reject all attributes of external religiosity; there are no icons in houses of worship, there is no priesthood and no respect for the sacraments. They see God in all natural phenomena and objects and extol personal communication with God. They do not see the holy book in the Bible and prefer the Doukhobor psalms in their original presentation. A large number of Doukhobors now live in the Caucasus and Canada.

Islam

According to Muslim theologians, Islam arose around 662. New era. It absorbed much of the dogma of Judaism and Christianity, including their mythology. This allowed Islam to quite a short time to become a full-fledged religion with its own Bible, which here is called the Koran, and the sayings of God (Allah) are called sunnah.

The main canons of Islam are set out in the “Pillars of Faith”:

• Allah is the only creator of everything that exists in the world, faith in him is immutable;
• Polytheism is a sin worse than which there is no sin;
• Angels are Allah’s closest helpers, faith in them should be as strong as in God himself;
• All scriptures that were sent down to earth by Allah are sacred and are accepted blindly, on faith;
• Prophets are considered messengers of Allah and should be received with the highest honors;
• Judgment Day is inevitable, the world is facing a universal catastrophe. But he will perish and rise again;
• Hell and heaven exist;
• Man's destiny is predetermined. Everything happens only by the will of Allah.

The religious pillars of Islam practiced in the Muslim tradition include:

• Shahad - rituals for confessing faith;
• namaz - communication with God through prayer;
• zakat is a type of tax on the congregation for the needs of poor Muslims;
• saum - observance of religious fasting in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar (Ramadan);
• Jihad is the fight for the purity of faith.

Judaism

Judaism does not have any specific creed in the form of a briefly formulated doctrine. Jewish theologians are guided mainly by the commandments of Moses, bequeathed to the people along the way from Egyptian slavery. There are 613 of them in total, only 10 are better known. But, according to theologians and philosophers, this is simply the subjective point of view of some theologians.

The following principles are the foundation of Judaism:

• faith in Yahweh, the one and undeniable God;
• the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people;
• faith in the appearance of the Messiah on earth;
• belief in an immortal soul;
• belief in the afterlife and eternal life.

Judaism is a monotheic religion. Its God is eternal, immaterial, omnipresent and incorporeal. Worshiping anyone other than Yahweh is a great sin: neither the stars, nor the angels, nor the saints.

The world was created by God simply by looking in just seven days. Man is the pinnacle of this world. Man is both material and spiritual. Due to the fact of his creation by God, he cannot be inherently sinful in principle. All human sins are the result of insufficient faith in the Almighty.

Only Yahweh is the only true God, which means that only Yahweh, or Jehovah, must be worshiped. Betrayal of your God is the most serious sin. Jehovah specifically gave freedom to the Jews, elevated them so that they could adequately communicate with God. Only in this way do Jews become a truly free people. If a person from another religion converts to Judaism, he is recognized as having the right to make this choice. Refusal from Judaism is prohibited.

The Jews descended from Abraham by the will of God. The Lord entered into an eternal covenant with him and his descendants. The symbol of this union was the rite of circumcision. Followers of Judaism are prone to messianism. But they strive to convert others and punish their enemies.

Revelation is the core concept of Judaism. People in it are in second place after God and become the most perfect creation on Earth. Once upon a time, man foolishly turned away from God, hid from him, and went through numerous mistakes associated with suffering and crimes. Only loyalty to God and love for him can return people to a happy life.

Buddhism

Buddhism is one of the oldest world religions, originating in Ancient India and is still the leading faith there. On the map of the Russian state it is practiced in Buryatia and some regions of Altai. The main difference between Buddhism and other religions is the desire of believers not for God, but for nirvana.

One comes to it through self-denial from the temptations of external life, focusing on the main thing, that is, on the eternal good. Nirvana is achieved through meditation. Whoever completes this path to the end and with success can count on the laurels of Buddha. In other words, everyone will become God if they strive for this.

The diversity of the religious picture that exists in Russia makes it possible not only to realize the greatness and versatility of culture, but also to take advantage of its fruits to achieve the common good of the peoples of the country. Each of our religions creates a special fragment in the picture of the surrounding world, allows us to comprehend ourselves in it, and contribute to the unification of society.

Over the past 10 years or so, a period of religious revival has begun in Russia, a return of the population to traditional religious values. The mass of the country's population has remained faithful to their religious beliefs, as evidenced, in particular, by all objectively conducted recent public opinion polls, as well as the desire of Russians to perform the most important religious sacraments and rituals (for example, such as the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, communion and marriage among Christians, circumcision rites and wedding ceremonies among Muslims and Jews, funeral rites among followers of various religions, etc.).

The most influential religion in Russia is Christianity, and above all one of its most important directions - Orthodoxy, which in our country primarily represents Russian Orthodox Church. According to a sociological survey conducted in 2002, 58% now adhere to Orthodoxy. If we proceed from the fact that the population of our country, according to the All-Russian Population Census, was 145.2 million people on October 9, 2002, then we can assume that Orthodox Christians number approximately 84 million people in it.

Orthodoxy is professed by the bulk of the Russian population of the country, as well as by the majority of such people as the Izhorians, Vepsians, Sami, Komi, Komi-Permyaks, Udmurts, Besermyans, Chuvashs, Kryashens, Nagaibaks, etc. The overwhelming majority of the Chulyms, Kumandins, Chelkans, Shors, Kets, Yugs, Nanais, Ulchis, Orochs, Itelmens, Aleuts, the overwhelming majority of the Selkups, Tubalars, Tofalars, Evens, Oroks, a significant part of the Enets, Telengits, Negidals, a small number call themselves Orthodox. the number of Nivkhs, although many of the listed peoples of Siberia and the Far East Orthodox faith combined with remnants of shamanistic and other local beliefs. The majority of Greeks and Bulgarians living in Russia are also Orthodox. Orthodoxy is also widespread among part of the Western Buryats; it is adhered to by some (primarily Don) and Mozdok Kabardians.

By expert assessment Based on the existence of a certain correlation between religious and ethnic affiliation, Orthodox Christians predominate among believers in the vast majority of constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The only exceptions are the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Ingushetia and the Republic of Dagestan, where there are few Orthodox Christians, as well as the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic, the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Republic of Kalmykia, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug, where the Orthodox, although they do not form the majority of the population, are represented in very large groups (in some of these subjects of the Russian Federation they constitute only slightly less than half of the believers).

In addition to the Russian Orthodox Church, to which the overwhelming majority of the Orthodox population of our country belongs, there are several other Orthodox church associations and individual communities operating in Russia, but their numbers are very small. This Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church, church communities, subordinate Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, communities that recognize leadership Kyiv Patriarchate, different branches True Orthodox (Catacomb) Church, as well as scattered groups of so-called "True Orthodox Christians." The most famous community of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church is located in the city of Suzdal, Vladimir region; there are followers of this church organization in Moscow, Ufa, Tyumen, Ussuriysk (Primorsky Territory), Orenburg region, the Udmurt Republic and in a number of other places. There is a parish subordinate to the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad in Krasnodar, and a parish subordinate to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate in the city of Ishim, Tyumen region. The number of followers of the Russian Orthodox Autonomous Church in Russia, as well as Russian parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church abroad, totals 50 thousand people.

They live in different places in Russia Old Believers- Orthodox Christians who did not accept the reforms carried out by Patriarch Nikon of the Russian Orthodox Church in the mid-17th century, which consisted primarily of bringing liturgical books into line with similar books among the Greeks. Old Believers are divided into a large number different groups, which can be reduced into two branches: priests and bespopovtsev. Popovtsy include three main church associations of Old Believers: the Russian Orthodox Old Believers Church (Belokrinitsky hierarchy), the Russian Old Orthodox Church and co-religionists.

Closest to the Russian Orthodox Church fellow believers- a group of Old Believers who retained their service according to old books, but submitted in 1800 to the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. Co-religionists usually call themselves Orthodox Old Believers. There are now few fellow believers - according to rough estimates, from 6 to 12 thousand people. They are available in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ivanovo, and in the village of Bolshoye Murashkino (Nizhny Novgorod region).

Another church association of Old Believers-Priests - Russian Orthodox Old Believer Church(Belokrinitsky hierarchy) is the largest Old Believer organization in the country (about 1 million supporters). Having emerged in the Beglopopov environment (the Beglopopovites accepted priests who defected from the Russian Orthodox Church), this church eventually became mid-19th centuries managed to create its own hierarchy. Most of all there are supporters of the Belokrinitsky hierarchy in, as well as in Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, Saratov, the Republic of Buryatia, the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Krasnodar Territory, Perm and other regions.

Another association of Old Believers-Priests is Russian Old Orthodox Church(according to various sources, from 250 thousand to 500 thousand or more people). There are many followers of this church in Moscow, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Chita, Bryansk and other regions. In the Nizhny Novgorod region they are concentrated primarily in the Semenovsky, Urensky, Gorodetsky districts. Recently, this church split, and the Old Orthodox Church of Russia, which enjoys the greatest influence in the Kursk region and Krasnodar region, emerged from it. The Russian Ancient Orthodox Church itself is now officially called the Ancient Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow and All Rus'.

The priests also include two small groups of so-called catacomb co-religionists, however, do not maintain any relations with co-religionists of the Moscow Patriarchate. This Andreevtsy(about 10 thousand people) and Klimentovtsy(5 thousand people). The former are found in the Republic of Bashkortostan and some regions of the Urals, in the Krasnodar Territory and Eastern Siberia, the latter are also found in the Urals, Siberia and the Far East.

There are much more non-priest associations of the Old Believers than priestly ones. These are Chasovnoe, Pomorskoe, Fedoseevskoe, Filippovskoe, Spasovo consent, runners, Ryabinovtsy, Melchizedeks, etc.

Followers Concord of the Hours They do not consider themselves priestless and view the absence of the priesthood as a temporary phenomenon. Their total number is unknown, but, apparently, it now does not exceed 300 thousand people, although it was once much more significant. The chapels are settled mainly in the Perm, Sverdlovsk, Saratov and Tyumen regions, Altai Territory, Krasnoyarsk Territory and other regions.

Pomeranian, or Danilovskoe, agreement (official name this church association - Old Orthodox Pomeranian Church) stands out among the majority of non-priest agreements for its moderation and is the most numerous of them (in Russia - 800 thousand people). Pomeranians live in Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg, the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Samara region, the Altai Territory and other places.

Close to Pomeranian Fedoseevskoe consent(10 thousand people) has supporters mainly in Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm and Leningrad regions.

Coming from a Pomeranian environment Filippov agreement, notorious for its “burnings” (self-immolations), now, according to one rough estimate, there are 200-300 people. Filippovites meet in small groups in the city of Orel, Belovsky and Guryevsky districts of the Kemerovo region. Their only well-organized community is located in the city of Kimry, Tver Region.

Number of followers Spasova consent(also called Netovites), probably 30-40 thousand people. Spasovo consent is mainly represented in the Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Vladimir, Ulyanovsk regions, the cities of Saratov, Orenburg, Samara, Ulyanovsk, Penza, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladimir and other places.

Separated from the Filippovites runner, or wandering, sense, characterized by public nihilism, now has only about 1 thousand supporters. The runners call themselves truly Orthodox Christians wandering. They are currently mainly concentrated in the Kemerovo, Perm, Yaroslavl, and Tomsk regions, northwest of the city of Tomsk. The self-baptisms (grandmothers, self-crosses) that branched off from the Spasovites are very few in number, there are no more than a few thousand of them. They are found in Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod and a number of other regions.

Close to self-baptizers Ryabinovsky sense, which recognizes only the eight-pointed cross made of rowan, and currently has only a very small number of supporters. The main centers of concentration of followers of this persuasion are the city of Chistopol in the Republic of Tatarstan (Tatarstan) and the city of Sterlitamak in the Republic of Bashkortostan.

The origin of the priestless sense is not entirely clear Melchizedek, whose followers receive communion with bread and wine placed before the icons the day before. Melchizedeks are found in the Republic of Bashkortostan in the cities of Ufa, Blagoveshchensk, Sterlitamak, Ishimbay, Biysk and in the village of Zalesovo Altai Territory(about 1 thousand people).

The overwhelming majority of Old Believers are Russians, although among them there are also Ukrainians, Belarusians, Karelians, Finns, Komi, Udmurts, Chuvashs and representatives of other peoples.

In addition to the Old Believers, other denominations emerged from the Orthodox environment and departed from Orthodoxy to varying degrees.

So, they are quite close to Orthodoxy johannites- admirers of who lived in the 19th - early 20th centuries. Orthodox priest John of Kronstadt, whom they considered a miracle worker. The number of Johannites in Russia is 1 thousand people, they can be found in St. Petersburg, Voronezh, Yaroslavl.

The so-called spiritual Christians who believe that the Holy Spirit can incarnate in people. Spiritual Christians include the Khlysty, Skoptsy, Doukhobortsy and Molokans.

Whips, famous for their ecstatic zeal, currently number about 10 thousand people. They are divided into a large number of sects ( fasters, Old Israel, New Israel, Spiritual Israel, New Christian Union, Redeemed Israel and etc.). Khlysty are concentrated mainly in the city of Zherdevka, Tambov region, as well as in the cities of Tambov, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Labinsk (Krasnodar Territory), Stavropol, Samara, Orenburg.

A sect separated from the Khlysty Skoptsov, who decided to fight fornication, which had become widespread among the Khlysty, with the help of castration, for which she received her name. This sect, small in Russia, has a small number of followers in Moscow, Dmitrovsky district of the Moscow region, and Yaroslavl.

Very distant from Christianity Doukhobors who rejected the Bible. In Russia their number is 10-20 thousand people. Doukhobors live in the Tambov, Rostov, Orenburg, Tula regions, in the Krasnodar Territory and in the Far East.

Molokans, having also significantly moved away in their doctrine from Christianity, still did not abandon the Bible, although they interpret it allegorically. There are approximately 40 thousand Molokans living in Russia, mainly concentrated in the Tambov and Orenburg regions, the North Caucasus and the Far East.

By ethnicity, the majority of spiritual Christians are Russian.

In some respects, Tolstoyans and teetotalers are close to spiritual Christians.

Followers of the religious and moral teachings of Leo Tolstoy founded their own organization, which was called Spiritual unity. Tolstoyans (their number does not exceed 500 people) can be found in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Samara,.

Teetotalers Those who believe that if alcoholism is completely eradicated, the Kingdom of God will be established on Earth, are represented by several groups. The most significant and famous of them - the Churikovites (4 thousand people) - are named after the surname of their founder Ivan Churikov. They live in the Leningrad, Vologda, Yaroslavl regions, St. Petersburg and some other places.

From the depths of Orthodoxy also emerged two sects that approached Judaism. These are Jehovah's Ilyinites and Subbotniks. Sect Jehovah's Witnesses-Ilintsy was founded in the middle of the 19th century. Staff Captain of the Russian Army N.S. Ilyin, who believed that Armageddon—the war between God and Satan—would soon come. Ilyin included a number of elements of Judaism in the dogma of his sect. The followers of this sect (their number does not exceed several thousand people) are mainly concentrated in the North Caucasus.

The religion that emerged in the 17th century deviated even more towards Judaism. a sect of Sabbatarians that rejects the Gospel. Number subbotniks is about 7 thousand people, they are concentrated near the city of Balashov, Saratov region, as well as in the village of Mikhailovka, Voronezh region.

Representatives of such a direction of Christianity live in Russia as Roman Catholicism. Different sources provide very different data on the number of Catholics in Russia - from 300 to 500 thousand or more people. The ethnic composition of the Catholic population of Russia is quite complex: the overwhelming majority are Catholics, a significant part of Hungarians, a minority of Ukrainians, Belarusians and Germans, small groups of Spaniards, Italians, French and representatives of some other nationalities living in Russia, as well as small groups of Russians and Armenians. Catholics in Russia mainly adhere to three rites practiced in Catholicism: Latin (Poles, Lithuanians, Germans, Spaniards, Italians, French, most Belarusian Catholics, some Russian Catholics), Byzantine (Ukrainian Catholics, a small part of Belarusian Catholics and a small group Russian Catholics) and Armenian (Armenian Catholics). There are Catholic parishes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Samara, Marx (Saratov region), Volgograd, Astrakhan, Perm, Orenburg, Irkutsk, and a number of other cities.

Some features of Catholicism were borrowed by the marginal Christian religious organization that penetrated into our country - New Apostolic Church(according to various estimates from 6 to 50 thousand people).

Although followers Protestantism first appeared in Russia back in the 16th century, this direction of Christianity did not become widespread among the indigenous population of the country. In general, this picture has not changed even after, since the late 1980s, a large number of missionaries from Protestant denominations that had never previously functioned in Russia appeared in our country. According to available estimates, no more than 1% of the country's population now adheres to Protestantism. The following movements of Protestantism are represented in Russia: Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Calvinism (in the form of Reformedness and Presbyterianism), Mennoniteism, Methodism, Perfectionism, Pentecostalism and the charismatic movement close to it, Baptism, Adventism, Restorationism.

One of the main movements of Protestantism is quite widely represented in Russia - Lutheranism(according to some estimates - up to 270 thousand followers). It is predominantly common among the majority of Germans living in our country, and. In Russia there are Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, on, in and Central Asia(200 thousand supporters, mainly Germans, but also some Estonians, Latvians, Finns; Reformed Germans living in Russia are also organizationally connected with the church), Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ingria(20 thousand people, mostly living in Leningrad region Ingrian Finns), Evangelical Lutheran Church(10 thousand people, unites part of the Latvians living in Russia), United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Russia, which introduced a number of elements of Catholicism into the cult, and some other Lutheran churches. Lutherans live in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, Moscow, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, Volgograd regions and some other places.

Presented in Russia Calvinism- a movement of Protestantism, more radical than Lutheranism, which broke with Catholicism. There are two branches of Calvinism in the country - Reformed and Presbyterian. Reformation(5 thousand supporters) is widespread among the majority of Hungarians living in Russia, who are united in Reformed Fundamentalist Church. It is also followed by a very small group of Russians living in Tver. There are also Reformed Germans in the country, but they, as already noted, are organizationally united, as in Germany, with the local Evangelical Lutheran Church. As a result of the activities of Korean missionaries, followers of another branch of Calvinism appeared in Russia - Presbyterianism. There are now several Presbyterian churches in the country (the total number of Presbyterians is 19 thousand people).

Part of the country's German population adheres to Mennonite. Data on the number of Mennonites in the country is very contradictory. According to one estimate, there are 140 thousand Mennonites in Russia, according to another - only 6 thousand people. (such a possible sharp decrease in their number is associated with a mass exodus to).

In the last decade, as a result of proselytizing activities in Russia, a significant group has emerged methodologists(12 thousand people). Some of them are associated with one of the largest Protestant organizations United Methodist Church(5 thousand people), the other part - from Korean Methodist Church(7 thousand people). Close to Methodism perfectionism, whose supporters in Russia are 2.5 thousand people. In our country there are branches of the four largest perfectionist churches in the United States: Christian and Missionary Alliance(1.6 thousand supporters), Nazarene Church(250 people), Church of God [Anderson, Indiana](300 people) and Wesleyan Church(150 people).

The largest group of Protestants in Russia is now formed by supporters Pentecostalism. The total number of supporters of this movement of Protestantism is 416 thousand people. (some sources give a much higher figure - 1.4 million people, but it is, of course, greatly overestimated). The largest denomination of Russian Pentecostals is formed by Christians of the evangelical faith(according to various sources - from 100 to 187.5 thousand people), belonging to the group of Pentecostals of the two blessings and closely associated with the largest Pentecostal organization in the world - Assemblies of God. Other branches of Pentecostalism are also represented in Russia: Pentecostals of the Three Blessings ( International Pentecostal Holiness Church- about 3 thousand people), Pentecostals-Unitarians ( Evangelical Christians in the Spirit of the Apostles– from 6 to 15 thousand people). There are many other independent Pentecostal associations, as well as a significant group of Pentecostals who have chosen not to register.

Closely related to Pentecostalism is the charismatic movement, whose supporters have also appeared in Russia in recent years. The number of charismatics, according to various estimates, ranges from 72 to 162 thousand people. Close to Pentecostalism and so-called. full gospel churches.

A significant number of supporters (381 thousand people) in Russia have such a movement of Protestantism as baptism. The largest Baptist organization in the country is Union of Evangelical Christian Baptists of the Russian Federation(according to various estimates - from 243 to 456 thousand supporters). Along with this union, Russia operates Independent Baptist congregations(85 thousand people), Council of Churches of Evangelical Christian Baptists(from 23 to 50 thousand followers), a branch of the American Baptist Bible Fellowship(450 people). Over 90% of Baptists by nationality are Russian.

In Russia there are also Adventists(111 thousand people). The vast majority of them are Seventh Day Adventists(90 thousand people), yes Reform Adventists, or Seventh Day Adventist Faithful Remnant(20 thousand people), and a small group seventh day christians(1 thousand people).

Anglicanism- the movement of Protestantism closest to Catholicism and Orthodoxy - has a very small number of followers in Russia (3.3 thousand people), and most of them are Englishmen living in Moscow.

The remaining movements of Protestants are also represented in Russia by very small groups. This restorationists(3.3 thousand people, including followers Churches of Christ– 3.1 thousand people, and supporters Christian churches and churches of Christ– about 200 people), Salvation Army(3 thousand people), Plymouth, or Christian, brothers(2.4 thousand people), brothers, or dunkers(1.8 thousand people). So-called non-denominational Protestant churches also appeared in the country.

In Russia there are also so-called marginal Protestants, strongly departed from the foundations of Christian doctrine: Jehovah witnesses(according to various estimates - from 110 to 280 thousand people), Moonies, or supporters Unification Churches(30 thousand people), Mormons, or followers Church of Jesus Christ of Saints last days (from 4 to 20 thousand people), supporters International Church of Christ(12 thousand people), followers Christian Science(several hundred people), etc.

Of the Christians of other directions in Russia, there are followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which did not agree with the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon (about 1 million people - the overwhelming majority are Armenians living in Russia) and supporters of the Nestorian Assyrian Church of the East (about 1 million people - Assyrians living in our country ).

A number of sects penetrated into Russia Hinduism, the most famous of which is the sect Hare Krishnas(official name - International Society for Krishna Consciousness). It has been implemented in some cities, mostly large ones. The number of Hare Krishnas is 15 thousand people. Missionaries of the syncretic religion that arose in the 19th century are also active in the country - Baha'ism, and also founded in the USA in the 20th century Church of Scientology. Chinese folk beliefs are common among the Taz and Chinese living in Russia.

A special religion is professed by a group of Yazidis living in Russia, who consider themselves a separate people.

Recently, the country has developed its own syncretic beliefs: Church of the Last Testament(its supporters, whose number reaches 24 thousand people, are also called by the name of their founder Vissarionites), White Brotherhood, sect of Porfiry Ivanov. The same type of belief - Marla Vera– also appeared among the Mari.

Not all of the denominations listed in the text could be reflected on the map. Some small, mostly Protestant, denominations were not shown at the scale of the map, and a number of small religious groups were not mapped because their exact location was unknown. Thus, this text can be considered not only as an explanation of the map, but also as a kind of addition to it.

I would be grateful if you share this article on social networks:

Russia is a huge state that unites many nations with one word “Russians”. However, this does not prevent each nation from having its own religious traditions and customs. Many foreigners are surprised and delighted by how our country treats the issue of religion. In Russia, no religious movement can assume dominant status, since at the legislative level the country is recognized as a secular state. Therefore, peoples can choose for themselves the faith they want, and no one will persecute them for it. But still, what religions exist in Russia? Are there really so many different movements in the country that peacefully coexist with each other? We will try to answer these and other questions in the article.

Let's consider the topic through the prism of the law

Freedom of religion in Russia is constitutionally enshrined. Citizens decide for themselves what exactly to believe in and which churches to visit. You can also always remain an atheist and not support any of the faiths. And there are a lot of them on the territory of the country: according to the latest data, seventy religious denominations have been identified that are actively operating in the state. Based on this, we can safely conclude that the issue of religion in Russia is not a pressing issue. Believers respect each other's rights and freedoms without encroaching on alien religious traditions.

At the legislative level, there is a ban on insulting the feelings of believers and committing actions that can be interpreted as disrespect for them. Criminal penalties are provided for such acts.

This attitude towards religion ensures the inviolability and immutability of freedom of religion in Russia. Many scientists believe that this is historically predetermined. After all, our country has always been a multinational state where conflicts based on religious hatred have never arisen. All nations and peoples have respected each other's rights and beliefs for many centuries. This situation continues to this day.

However, many are interested in what religion in Russia can be considered the most important? Let's look for the answer to this question together in the following sections of the article.

Religious composition of the population of Russia

Types of religion in Russia are not difficult to determine. This can be done approximately by every resident of the country who has sufficient quantity friends and acquaintances. Most likely, among them there will be Christians, Buddhists and even adherents of Islam. However, these are not all religions represented in the state. In fact, each of them has branches and a few religious associations. Therefore, in reality, the religious “carpet” looks much more colorful.

If we rely on official statistics, then the main religion in Russia can be called Christianity. It is noteworthy that most of the population adheres to it. But at the same time, religion is represented by all the main branches:

• Orthodoxy;
• Catholicism;
• Protestantism.

What religion in Russia can be placed in second place in terms of prevalence? Oddly enough for many, this religion is Islam. It is confessed mainly in the south of our country.

The third and subsequent places are occupied by Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism and other religious movements. In the next section we will talk in more detail about the religion of the peoples of Russia.

Statistical data

To find out about religion in Russia in percentage, you need to turn to official sources. However, there is some tension with them in the country. The fact is that thanks to freedom of religion, the state does not control the number of believers. It cannot provide accurate data on the confessions and religious self-identification of citizens. Therefore, for some time useful information It is possible to extract information only from sociological surveys of the population, and it is difficult to vouch for their reliability. Moreover, most of the data from sociologists is quite contradictory and only after a thorough comparative analysis can any conclusions be drawn.

If we focus on the latest data from the Russian Academy of Sciences (2012-2013), then in percentage terms the religious picture looks like this:

• Seventy-nine percent of respondents consider themselves Orthodox;
• four percent of Russians are Muslims;
• no more than one percent of the country’s citizens identified themselves with other religious movements;
• Nine percent of respondents did not identify themselves with any religion;
• Seven percent of the population called themselves atheists.

And here is what the list of religions in Russia for the same years looks like in percentage according to data from one of the sociological organizations:

• Sixty-four percent of Russians profess Orthodoxy;
• other Christian movements - one percent;
• Islam - six percent;
• other religions - one percent;
• About four percent of citizens cannot self-determinate.

As you can see, information from different sources is slightly different from each other. However, such statistics of religions in Russia do not distort the overall picture.

Christianity in Russia

Over the past decades, the population of our country has increasingly begun to return to the religious traditions of their ancestors. People again flocked to churches and began to try to observe religious traditions and regulations. Most of the population remained faithful to the traditional religion - Christianity. In Russia it is professed by more than half of the country's population. However, not all of those who identify themselves with this religion attend temples and services. Most often they are called Christians nominally, meaning by this centuries-old traditions the Slavic people as a whole.

But we should not forget that the religion itself has several movements and representatives of almost each live on the territory of the Russian state:

• Orthodoxy;
• Catholicism;
• Protestantism;
• Old Believers and other movements that are not numerous in composition.

If we state the facts without going into details, then the overwhelming majority of followers of religion in Russia is Orthodoxy. And only then do the rest of the currents follow. But they all definitely deserve respect and attention.

Orthodoxy

If we are talking about which religion in Russia - Orthodoxy or Christianity - can claim the title of “main religion,” then it is worth noting the incompetence of the question itself. For some reason, many who are ignorant of religious issues separate these concepts and place them on opposite sides of the barrier. However, in fact, Orthodoxy is just one of the equal denominations of Christianity. But in our country its followers are the majority of the population.

According to some estimates, more than eighty million people profess Orthodoxy. They live in different regions of the Russian Federation and predominate in them. Naturally, the bulk of believers are Russian. But there are many Orthodox peoples among other peoples, and they include themselves:

• Karelians;
• Mari;
• Chukchi;
• Enets;
• Evenks;
• tofalars;
• Kalmyks;
• Greeks and so on.

Sociologists count at least sixty nationalities, which from large quantity types of religions in Russia make their choice in favor of Orthodoxy.

Catholicism

This religion has been present in Russia since the adoption of Christianity. Over the centuries, the size of the community has constantly changed, as has the attitude towards the confession. At some times Catholics were highly respected, at others they were persecuted by state power and the Orthodox Church.

After the revolution of the seventeenth year, the number of Catholics decreased significantly and only in the nineties, when attitudes towards religion in general changed, followers of the Latin rites began to actively open their churches in Russia.

On average, there are about five hundred thousand Catholics in our country; they have formed two hundred and thirty parishes, united in four large dioceses.

Protestantism

This Christian denomination is one of the largest in our country. According to data from three years ago, it has about three million people. Such an incredible number of believers may raise doubts about the accuracy of the calculations, but it must be taken into account that the Protestant community is divided into numerous movements. These include Baptists, Lutherans, Adventists and other communities.

According to sociological services, among Christian denominations, Protestants are second only to Orthodox Christians in terms of the number of believers.

Orthodox associations in Russia: Old Believers

We have already mentioned that numerous religions in Russia, including Christianity, are fragmented into small groups that differ from each other in rituals and forms of service. Orthodoxy is no exception. Believers are not unified structure, they belong to different movements that have their own parishes and churches.

The vast Russian expanses are home to a vast community of Old Believers. This Orthodox movement was formed in the seventeenth century after the rejection of church reform. Patriarch Nikon ordered that all religious books be brought into conformity with Greek sources. This caused a split in the Orthodox Church, which continues to this day.

At the same time, the Old Believers themselves are not united either. They are divided into several church associations:

• priests;
• Bespopovtsy;
• fellow believers;
• Old Orthodox Church;
• Andreevtsy and similar groups.

According to fairly rough estimates, each association has several thousand followers.

Islam

Data on the number of Muslims in Russia are often distorted. Experts say Islam is practiced by about eight million people in the country. But the highest clergy themselves give completely different figures - approximately twenty million people.

In any case, this figure is not static. Sociologists note that every year there are two percent fewer adherents of Islam. This trend is associated with military conflicts in the Middle East.

It is noteworthy that the majority of Muslims call themselves “ethnic”. They are traditionally associated with this religion, but they themselves do not adhere to certain rituals and traditions and very rarely visit the mosque.

Historians note that the Slavs are very closely associated with Islam. In the fourteenth century, it was the state religion in part of Russian territories. Once they were Muslim khanates, but were annexed to the lands of Rus' as a result of conquest.

The most numerous people professing Islam are the Tatars. They play an important role in governing the faith and preserving the cultural traditions of their ancestors.

Judaism

There are at least one and a half million representatives of this religious movement in Russia. The majority of them are Jewish people. Jews live mainly in large cities. Approximately half of the believers settled in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Today there are seventy synagogues operating in the country. A distinctive feature of Jews living in Russia is their adherence to traditions. They regularly attend the synagogue with the whole family and perform all the required rituals.

Buddhism

There are about two million Buddhists in our country. This is mainly the population of three Russian regions:

• Buryatia;
• Tuva;
• Kalmykia.

The majority of representatives of this faith are ethnic Buddhists. From generation to generation they profess the same religion and pass on traditions to their children. Over the past decades, Buddhism has become extremely popular. Many people begin to study its basics out of interest and then become its active followers.

The popularization of this religious movement is evidenced by plans to build a datsan in Moscow. This temple should turn out to be one of the largest and most luxurious in Russia.

Other religions and common beliefs

The low percentage of followers of some beliefs does not allow them to be identified as large and significant denominations, however, in recent years there has been an intensification of all kinds of religious associations.

Of great interest is the occult, eastern practices and neo-pagan cults. These movements have their own rituals, traditions and norms of service. Every year the Orthodox Church notes with great concern the growth of followers of various religious beliefs. However, they have not yet been able to contain it.

Don't forget about shamanism. Many peoples, including the Udmurts, Mari and Chuvash, despite the fact that they self-identify as Orthodox, remain committed to the ancient rites and rituals of their ancestors. Shamanism is very developed in these territories.

Residents of remote Russian villages are also returning to the faith of their ancestors. In settlements you can often meet followers of the Rodnovers. They revive long-forgotten traditions and worship the forces of nature. There is also such a movement as folk Orthodoxy. It is somewhat akin to paganism, but has bright distinctive features.

Prohibited religions in Russia

Despite the fact that freedom of religion is sacredly observed in our country, there are certain organizations that are prohibited in Russia. Destructive sects and extremist groups fall into this category. What should be understood by this formulation? Let's try to figure it out.

A person does not always come to faith in a simple and understandable way. Sometimes on his road he meets people who are members of religious groups. They obey the spiritual leader and are often completely under his control. The organizers of such groups have hypnotic abilities, knowledge of neurolinguistic programming and other talents that allow them to control the masses. Associations with leaders who skillfully manage and direct their flock in a way that harms their mental and physical health, as well as material well-being, are called “sects”. Moreover, most of them have the prefix “destructive”. They influence people's consciousness and make money at their expense. Unfortunately, many such organizations appeared in Russia. We will mention some prohibited sects in this section in more detail:

• "White Brotherhood" The leader of the organization was former employee KGB, which skillfully applied its knowledge in practice. About ten years ago, the leadership of the sect found itself in the dock, but before that they managed to literally zombify several thousand people. They completely lost their property and went to live in a sect, where they eked out a powerless existence from hand to mouth.
• "Neo-Pentecostals". The sect that came to us from America managed to recruit about three hundred thousand adherents into its ranks of different ages. The goal of the organization's leaders was enrichment. They skillfully controlled the crowd, bringing them to almost ecstasy with their words and colorful show. In this state, people were ready to give all their property to the leaders and be left with nothing.
• "Jehovah witnesses". This sect is familiar to almost every Russian; its adherents have a habit of knocking on every apartment in search of new members of the organization. The technology for recruiting sectarians is so finely thought out that people did not even notice how they became part of a religious organization. However, the leaders’ activities pursued purely mercantile goals.

Many extremist organizations that base their activities on religious beliefs and exist for the sake of terror to an ordinary person unknown. However, their list is quite extensive; we cannot list it in full within the scope of this article. But let's list some groups:

• "Islamic State". There is hardly a person who does not know this name. An organization that carries out terrorist attacks around the world has been banned in Russia for two years.
• Jabhat al-Nusra. The group is also considered a banned religious terrorist group.
• "Nurcular". This organization is international and its activities on the territory of our country are punishable by the laws of the Russian Federation.

Many countries believe that the example of Russia, which managed to unite many peoples and religious movements, must be considered on a global scale. Indeed, in some states the problem of religion is very acute. But in our country, every citizen chooses for himself which god he should believe in.