Religion | featured news

Banks are foreclosing on America's churches in record numbers as lenders increasingly lose patience with religious facilities that have defaulted on their mortgages, according to new data.

Seven states filed a lawsuit Thursday against the federal government requirement that religious employers offer health insurance coverage that includes contraceptives and other birth control services.

Rick Santorum says he won't back down from a speech in which he said Satan was targeting the U.S.

Pope Benedict is appointing 22 new cardinals at the Vatican on Saturday, with his choices for the lofty role likely to influence who will be appointed as the next pontiff.

Retreating in the face of a political uproar, President Barack Obama on Friday will announce that religious employers will not have to cover birth control for their employees after all, The Associated Press has learned.

A woman who had worked for the Archdiocese of New York in its finance offices was accused of writing checks for nonexistent services and channeling the money to herself.

The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

A meeting of more than 100 conservative Christian leaders voted on Saturday to support Rick Santorum’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

A Los Angeles bishop has resigned after revealing he is the father of two teenage children, the Vatican announced Wednesday. Gabino Zavala, the auxiliary bishop for the San Gabriel pastoral region, informed his superiors in December that he had fathered two children, who are living out of state with their mother, according to the Catholic News Service.

Bishop Eddie Long, head of one of the nation's largest mega churches, announced Sunday he will take "time off" from the pulpit to work on his family. The announcement came three days after his wife Vanessa filed for divorce.