Kremlin Mulls Creating Interfaith Relations Post

Believers in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Old Izborsk, the Pskov region.

MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia is considering creating a new government post to mediate interfaith relations, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

He told online television channel Dozhd that an official decision on the post will be made at a later date.

Russian media had earlier reported that a number of lawmakers and members of the Russian International Affairs Council have been pushing to create a post for a migration ombudsman to deal with Russia’s immigration policy and religious issues.

Seventy-four percent of Russians are Russian Orthodox Christians, according to a December 2012 survey by independent pollster Levada Center. The proportion of followers of Islam, the second-largest religion in the country, had grown to 7 percent, up from 4 percent in 2009.

http://en.ria.ru/russia/20131018/184232110/Kremlin-Mulls-Creating-Interfaith-Relations-Post.html