Religion | featured news

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie attacks senior figures in the Catholic church over gay marriage. Mr Rennie criticised threats by church leaders to invoke a block vote against proposals to allow same-sex couples to marry in a religious ceremony.

Churches in the southern Indian state of Kerala are offering cash incentives to couples who produce more children, parish officials say, amid concerns about the declining number of Christians.

A teacher says students are trying to disrupt class with blessings after sneezings, but his prohibition on the practice is upsetting some parents.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are a popular draw whenever fragments of the ancient manuscripts are displayed at museums around the world. Now you can get a close-up glimpse of the scrolls with a few keystrokes on your personal computer.

The saying goes that when God closes a door, he opens a window. So when the Borders bookstore chain — the nation’s second-largest — finishes closing all of its stores this month, Christian retailers see a window of opportunity in the death of a mega-competitor that once threatened to put them out of business.

Clergy sex abuse victims upset that no high-ranking Roman Catholic leaders have been prosecuted for sheltering guilty priests are asking the International Criminal Court to investigate the pope and top Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity.

Religion expert muses there could be '310 million people, 310 million religions' as Americans tailor faith to suit their personal needs.

Many California teachers say the focus on state testing gives them little time to really explore the topic. Some say educators are hesitant because of sensitivities over religion, war and politics.

The Vatican on Saturday vigorously rejected claims it sabotaged efforts by Irish bishops to report priests who sexually abused children to police and accused the Irish prime minister of making an “unfounded” attack against the Holy See. The Vatican issued a lengthy response to the Irish government following Prime Minister Enda Kenny’s unprecedented July 20 denunciation of the Vatican’s handling of abuse, in which he cited the “dysfunction, the disconnection, the elitism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.”

Tom Perrotta’s new novel examines how ordinary people react to extraordinary situations in the wake of a rapturelike event that has whisked millions of people off the face of the earth.