Before shooting, anti-Semitic incidents were on the rise

NEW YORK – Swastikas scrawled into Jewish students’ notebooks. Headstones toppled and desecrated by vandals at Jewish cemeteries. Jews falsely blamed for challenges facing the nation. ...

U.S. religious orders asked to ID priest abusers

NEW YORK – The umbrella organization of Catholic religious orders in the U.S. is suggesting that its members consider voluntarily identifying priests accused of sexual abuse, opening up what...

Museum of the Bible removes items billed as Dead Sea Scrolls after experts find they are not authentic

WASHINGTON – The Museum of the Bible – a prominent new institution off the Mall in Washington, D.C. – announced this week that it has removed five prized items once thought to be historical ...

Issue of married Catholic priests gains traction under pope

VATICAN CITY – As the Vatican copes with the growing clergy sex abuse scandal and declining number of priests worldwide, it is laying the groundwork to open formal debate on an issue that ha...

Episcopal Church confronts past of sexual exploitation

Dioceses seeking to share victims’ stories of abuse

Pope indicates willingness to visit North Korea

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis indicated a willingness to visit North Korea during a private audience Thursday with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, according to Vatican and South Korean off...

Pope defrocks 2 Chilean bishops accused of sex abuse

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis on Saturday defrocked two more Chilean bishops accused of sexually abusing minors, and to show greater transparency about how he’s responding to the church’s glob...

Mormons to spend less time at church on Sundays

Time requirement to drop from 3 hours to 2

Mormon leader: Nicknames for faith are ‘victory for Satan’

SALT LAKE CITY – The president of the Mormon church reiterated Sunday that he wants members, the media and others to use the faith’s full name, saying nicknames are “a major victory for Sata...

Christian TV network enters world of 24-hour news

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – A Christian TV network is entering the crowded world of 24-hour news broadcasting at a time when the mainstream news media is under increasing attack by President Donal...

Mormon no more: Tabernacle Choir renamed in big church shift

SALT LAKE CITY – The world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir will be singing the same tune but under a new name. The choir was renamed Friday to strip out the word Mormon in a move a...

Pope opens youth meeting as sex abuse survivors stage sit-in

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis urged Catholic bishops to dream of a future free of the mistakes of the past as he opened a global church leadership meeting Wednesday amid renewed outrage over t...