According to a poll that was conducted just after Orthodox Christmas, 66% of Russians celebrated this holiday in 2001. The majority of respondents preferred essentially secular entertainment: 52% of them celebrated Orthodox Christmas at home with family, 9% went to parties, and 3% took part in mass gatherings on the streets, or visited nightclubs, restaurants, and concert-halls. Only 3% of Russians attended a Christmas mass. This distribution of answers is present in all social-demographic groups: the young and the old, men and women, urban and rural populations all celebrated Christmas Day in about the same way.

Though Russians themselves, with few exceptions, didn't go to church, more than one-third (37%) of those surveyed watched the TV broadcast of Christmas mass from Church of Christ Savior Cathedral in Moscow, and among people over 50, 50% watched the service.

Christmas Day recently became an official State holiday. However, a majority of Russians (58%) reported that they celebrated Orthodox Christmas before it became an official holiday. The majority of those surveyed follow their old traditions. So, among those who celebrated the main Orthodox holiday before, this year only 16% for some reason didn't do so. And among those who didn't celebrate Christmas Day in Soviet times, 62% of them also ignored it this time.

As we know, the Western world celebrates Christmas Day more widely than in Russia, traditionally before the New Year. In our nation, according to 69% of respondents, the New Year's holiday is more important than Christmas Day, while for 18% of respondents, Christmas is more important.

As for Catholic Christmas, only 5% of Russians celebrated it this year.