The Reversal of the Mission: The Influence of Religious Leaders on Sociopolitical Attitudes

Abstract:

This paper examines the causal effect of religious leaders on local religiosity and political preferences. I collect a novel dataset containing the universe of Catholic priests appointments in rural Spain between 2000 and 2019 and conduct an original survey on their demographic characteristics, political views, and work habits. I exploit the quasi-natural experiment by which foreign-born priests are allocated to parishes using a staggered difference-in-differences design. I show that foreign-born priests, whom I find more devoted to their cause, are effective in revitalizing local religiosity, evidenced by an increase in Catholic marriages and fertility, while fewer divorces. Politically, they increase electoral mobilization, shift communities toward Catholic-aligned positions, and reduce support for openly xenophobic parties. These effects are driven by their broader community engagement and reinforcement of native in-group cohesion, rather than immigrant assimilation. These findings highlight the role of foreign religious leaders as traditional community builders.