| | | Study says 14 percent of Romanians respected Orthodox Lent this year | | -May 13, 2005- | BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - Just 14 percent of Romanian Christian Orthodox respected strict fasting rules during Lent this year, but seven out of 10 attended Easter services, according to a study released Wednesday.
About 57 percent of respondents said they had partially respected the Lent eating rules, and women were reportedly more faithful.
Seventeen percent of women said they respected Lent eating rules entirely, compared to just 10 percent of men. Among the over 65s, one in four Romanian Orthodox Christians fasted.
During the 40 days of Lent, Orthodox Christians are supposed to refrain from eating all meat and milk products and eggs, as a way to develop spiritual discipline.
Even if many didn't fast, about 70 percent of Romanian Orthodox Christians went to church at Easter, which fell on May 1.
About 90 percent of Romanians are Christian Orthodox.
The study was carried out by GfK-Romania, a market research group, and only people who declared themselves to be practicing Orthodox were interviewed. Some 1,044 people were questioned at the beginning of May, and the survey had a 3 percent margin of error. |
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