Most Regular Worshipers Hear Clergy on Politics, With Opposition to Abortion and Homosexuality and Support for Israel

Overview

• The Pew Research Center survey, published May 27, 2026, found about two-thirds of U.S. adults who attend religious services at least once or twice a month heard their clergy speak about at least one political or social issue.
• When clergy address abortion, homosexuality or Israel, attendees are more likely to report hearing messages opposing abortion and homosexuality and supporting Israel than the opposite positions.
• Topic emphasis varies by faith: 49% of regular Catholic attendees and 43% of white evangelical Protestants reported hearing about abortion, white evangelicals most often reported hearing about homosexuality, and Catholics most often heard about immigration.
• Many worshipers are unclear about clergy partisanship: 44% said they did not know their clergy's political party and 27% said their clergy represent a mix of Democrats and Republicans.
• The survey of 1,391 regular attenders has a ±3.5 percentage-point margin of error and did not include enough regular attenders from some non-Christian faiths for separate analysis, which limits how broadly the findings can be applied.