WASHINGTON, Feb 26: The vast majority of Americans – almost 70 per cent – agree that it is important for a US president to have strong religious beliefs, says a report released on Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life.

The Washington-based think-tank, however, also reported that a sizeable majority, 63 per cent, opposes churches endorsing candidates during election campaigns.

Just 28 per cent say churches should come out in favour of candidates, but that number has grown slightly since 2002 when only 22 per cent held this opinion.

The report notes that the personal faith of candidates has played a significant role in the 2008 presidential campaign. Mitt Romney, who opted out of the race after a series of defeats in the primaries, was forced to defend his faith in a nationwide address in December.

Mr Romney is a Mormon, a Christian sect regarded as heretical by most Americans.

Democratic frontrunner Barack Obama, whose father was a Muslim, also had to assure the Americans more than once that he is a “committed Christian” and is willing to fight Muslim extremists more vigorously than President Bush.

Other candidates, such as Hillary Clinton or Republican frontrunner John McCain, did not have to defend their faiths because they are widely accepted as good Christians.

The Pew Forum points out that while the United States has a long tradition of separating church from state, there also exists a powerful inclination to mix religion and politics.

“Throughout our nation’s history, great political and social movements – from abolition to women’s suffrage to civil rights to today’s struggles over abortion and gay marriage – have drawn upon religious institutions for moral authority, inspirational leadership and organisational muscle,” the report notes.

“In recent years, religion has been woven more deeply into the fabric of partisan politics than ever before.”

According to the report, the 2004 election was the latest presidential campaign in which candidates openly discussed their religious beliefs, churches became increasingly active in political mobilisation and voters could be sorted not just by their policy preferences but also by the depth of their religious commitment.

In fact, whether a person regularly attends religious services was a more powerful predictor of his or her vote for president than such standard demographic characteristics as gender, age, income and region.

Although the public opposes church endorsement of candidates, most Americans view President Bush’s expressions of religious faith as appropriate.

As many as 52 per cent respondents to an earlier Pew Forum survey said that Mr Bush mentions his religious faith the right amount and another 14 per cent said he talks about his faith too little.

About a quarter — 24 per cent — believed that President Bush mentions his faith too much, a percentage that has increased 10 points since July 2003.