Priests, ministers and other religious leaders are supposed to teach the Christian faithful about important societal issues, including abortion. Are they, however, speaking about this issue from the pulpit?

About 70 percent of American churchgoers said they did not hear their preachers talk about abortion during church services, a recent survey from the Pew Research Center revealed.

Only 29 percent of 4,602 American adults who participated in the Pew Research poll conducted online and via mail from June 5 to July 7 said they recently heard about abortion from the pulpit.

Of this figure, White Evangelicals and Roman Catholics emerged as those who heard most about abortion from their church leaders, with 36 percent of them saying the homily or preaching at church involved this topic.

White evangelical ministers were also found to be those with the strongest criticisms against abortion, with 33 percent of the faithful surveyed saying they heard their church leader say something against killing babies.

Black Protestants, meanwhile, were most deprived of teachings about abortion, with only 16 percent saying their pastor discussed this in church.

Among churchgoers who heared their clergy talked about abortion during the spring and early summer, 22 percent said their church leaders spoke against it, 3 percent said their clergy preach in favour of abortion, and 4 percent heard both for and against messages.

According to the Pew Research survey, religious liberty was the most tackled controversial issue by church ministers and pastors, followed closely by homosexuality.

A total of 40 percent of the American churchgoers surveyed said their pastors, ministers and priests used church services to discuss religious liberty. White evangelicals heard most about this topic from their preachers, with 45 percent saying they defended religious freedom from the pulpit.

Thirty-nine percent of those who participated in the survey meanwhile said their church leaders preached about homosexuality. Of this number, While Evangelicals once again emerged as the most vocal about gay lifestyle, with 45 percent saying their minister recently opposed homosexuality in church services.