(RNS) — Two-thirds of U.S. adults who regularly attend religious services say their clergy have spoken about at least one key political issue — most prominently, abortion, Israel or homosexuality — in recent months.
But what clergypersons say about such topics varies depending on their viewpoint, and sometimes, their religious affiliation, the Pew Research Center found in a survey published Wednesday (May 27). Researchers asked about a total of seven political or social topics — including immigration, U.S. military action in Iran, the environment and people who are transgender.
“When people do hear the clergy speak about these topics, they report that they tend to hear more about opposing abortion than supporting abortion rights, opposing homosexuality than encouraging acceptance of people who are gay or lesbian, supporting Israel than criticizing it,” Becka Alper, a senior researcher at Pew, told Religion News Service.
The findings are based on a survey conducted in April of 1,391 U.S. adults who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month.
Certain topics figured more prominently in religious services attended by people with particular affiliations. For example:
Catholics (49%) and white evangelical Protestants (43%) who attend worship services at least monthly are most likely to say their religious leaders have recently addressed abortion.
“Half of Catholic Mass attenders say their clergy recently spoke about abortion” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center)
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White evangelicals also are likely to report hearing pulpit messages about homosexuality (42%). Catholics, on the other hand, were most likely to have heard discussion about immigration (41%) in their churches.
Black Protestants attending at least monthly are mostly likely to hear clergy speak about Israel (32%), immigration (31%) and homosexuality (30%).
White Protestants who are not evangelical were most likely to hear about the environment (27%) and immigration (23%).
White evangelical Protestants (24%) and Black Protestants (16%) are more likely to say they have heard supportive messages about Israel from their clergy rather than criticism.
“66% of Americans who regularly attend religious services hear about political or social issues from their clergy” (Graphic courtesy of Pew Research Center)
Overall, on the topics of immigration, people who are transgender and the environment, clergypersons were heard speaking far more from one stance over the other. For example:
Americans who regularly attended religious services heard more about the need to support and welcome immigrants (15%) than a call for stricter immigration enforcement (3%).
They heard more about opposing transgender identity (15%) than accepting those who are transgender (3%).
They reported more pulpit messages about protecting the environment (15%) than offering a critique of environmental regulations (3%).
In most of the nation’s largest religious groups analyzed in the survey, regular attenders are more likely to say their religious leaders spoke in opposition to abortion, homosexuality and transgender identity than favored abortion rights or acceptance of lesbian, gay or transgender people.
But white Protestants who were not evangelical were as likely to report that their clergy encouraged acceptance of lesbian, gay and transgender people as they were to hear pulpit messages condemning transgender identity or homosexuality.
The survey reflected what seems to be a mixed response about U.S. military action in Iran, a topic heard from clergy by 30% of Catholics, 28% of Black Protestants and about 20% each of white evangelical Protestants and white nonevangelical Protestants.
Almost 1 in 10 regular attendees (8%) overall say they have heard religious leaders speak of opposing the war while 4% said they heard messages supporting it. In addition, 9% said their clergy spoke of the conflict without voicing opposition or support for it.
Though the bulk of the religious survey takers reported hearing at least one of the seven survey topics addressed from the pulpit at worship services they attended, some 44% of respondents said they were uncertain about the political party with which their clergy affiliated. Another 27% said their clergy are a mix of Democrats and Republicans.
That sense of political affiliation has not changed much since 2019, when 44% of respondents said they were unsure of the political affiliation of their clergy and 26% said they were a mix of both major parties.
But, in the recent survey, 36% of white evangelical Protestants describe their clergy as mostly Republican, with 3% saying their religious leaders are mostly Democrats. Among Black Protestants, 21% state their clergy are Democrats, with 8% describing them as mostly Republican.
The survey, conducted April 6-12, 2026, has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Although the survey was open to people of all faiths, it did not have sufficient respondents from some religious groups — for instance, Jews, Buddhists, Muslims or Hindus — who were regular attenders of services to allow for separate analysis of their responses.
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