Suit Over Bible-Instruction Program Revived by 4th Circuit
After nearly 80 years, a West Virginia school district may have to disband its “Bible in the Schools” program following a Fourth Circuit ruling in favor of an agnostic parent.
Read moreReligion
Putin Decries Prosecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia
Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to look into the reported persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Read moreRussian Orthodox Church Calls on UN for Help in Ukraine
The Russian Orthodox Church on Friday called on the United Nations, the leaders of Germany and France, the pope and other spiritual leaders to protect believers in Ukraine in the face of pressure on Moscow-affiliated clerics.
Read morePope Cuts 2 Cardinals From Cabinet Named in Abuse Scandal
Pope Francis has removed two cardinals from his informal cabinet after they were implicated in the Catholic Church’s sex abuse and cover-up scandal, shedding embarrassing advisers ahead of a high-stakes Vatican summit on abuse early next year.
Read moreVatican Investigates Chilean Order After Nuns Report Abuse
The Vatican has launched an investigation into a small Chilean religious order of nuns after some sisters denounced sexual abuse at the hands of priests and mistreatment by their superiors.
Read moreCatholic Church
The Roman Catholic Church of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, after settling nearly 300 cases of clerical sexual abuse, with dozens more pending.
Read moreChurch Bankruptcy
The Diocese of Winona-Rochester has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, due to 115 claims of sexual abuse involving 17 priests; it’s the fourth Minnesota diocese to declare bankruptcy in the scandals.
Read moreHopi Tribe Loses Lawsuit Over Artificial Snow on Sacred Grounds
Snow made from reclaimed wastewater for an Arizona ski resort won’t cause the Hopi Tribe any nuisance beyond what the general public would suffer despite the presence of sacred sites nearby, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
Read moreFormer Priest Faces Dismissal of Murder Appeal
The appeal for former Catholic priest John Feit, convicted last year of murdering his former parishioner nearly 60 years ago, could be thrown out before any arguments supporting his decades-long claim of innocence are developed in court because a brief hasn’t yet been filed.
Read morePolice Raid Catholic Headquarters in Houston
The Texas prosecutor who led a search of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston on Wednesday for a sex abuse case said Thursday it will take weeks to go through the records seized.
Read moreBorder Patrol Abuse
A U.S. citizen who is Muslim and wears a hijab claims in a federal complaint that a border patrolman at the San Ysidro, Calif., crossing seized her cellphone and threw her U.S. passport in the trash. She was strip-searched, kicked, called a “sand nigger,” and her passport was not returned, according to the complaint.
Read moreCatholic Church Would Exhume Candidate for Sainthood
Faced with no clear statutory procedure in Tennessee to exhume the body of a priest it hopes to canonize, the Roman Catholic Church in Tennessee asked a court in Chattanooga to cut through ambiguous law.
Read moreItalian Priest Who Doubted Francis Excommunicated for Heresy
An Italian Catholic priest who considers Pope Francis an antipope and claims to have supernatural communications with angels, saints and the Madonna has been excommunicated.
Read moreUN Rights Chief Urges Halt to Rohingya Repatriation Plan
The U.N. human rights chief says Bangladesh’s government should halt plans to repatriate more than 2,200 Rohingya Muslims to Myanmar, saying such a move would endanger their lives.
Read moreSatanic Temple Sues Over Netflix Reboot of ‘Sabrina’ Witch Series
In a $50 million federal copyright suit Thursday, the Satanic Temple says Netflix and Warner Brothers used their copyrighted depiction of the androgynous goat-headed deity Baphomet to represent evil antagonists in the series “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.”
Read morePanel Hears Catholic Fight With Philly Over Foster Care
A Philadelphia-based Catholic agency fought Tuesday afternoon at the Third Circuit for the right to deny same-sex couples a foster child based on its beliefs about marriage.
Read moreUighurs’ Supporters March as China Faces Rights Review at UN
Supporters of China’s Muslim Uighur minority are demonstrating in Geneva as the U.N.’s top human rights body examines the country’s rights record in a regular review.
Read moreSynagogue Tsuris
Long-term officers and congregants of the Chelsea synagogue Congregation Emunath Israel claim in court that their rabbi of six years held a disco in the sanctuary, broke the laws of the sabbath and funds a lavish lifestyle with donations meant for building renovations, among other alleged misdeeds.
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