Religion News Headlines

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — Authorities in Utah plan to offer details about a man accused of walking into a Catholic church and shooting another man in the back of the head during Mass in Ogden.

By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle OSLO (Reuters) - Few religious communities have gone as far in fighting climate change as a church in Queensland, Australia, which has 24 solar panels bolted to the roof in the shape of a Christian cross. "It's very effective. It's inspired some members of our congregation to install …

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis met Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Monday for the first time since Maduro won a narrow and disputed election victory to succeed late Socialist leader Hugo Chavez. The men discussed poverty, the fight against organized crime and drug trafficking, and regional issues including …

OGDEN, Utah (AP) — A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of walking into a Catholic church and shooting his father-in-law in the back of the head during Mass.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Pope Francis should pressure Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to focus on promoting democracy and peaceful coexistence to ease tensions with the socialist government's opponents, the Catholic Church's top representative in the country said Sunday.

By Steve Scherer ROME (Reuters) - Hundreds of bikers took a break from hell-raising on Sunday to be blessed by Pope Francis. Wearing black boots, jackets and vests, the tattooed Harley-Davidson riders stuck out among the nuns, priests, school children and shorts-wearing tourists at an open-air Mass in St. Peter's square. …

CAIRO (AP) — A hard-line Muslim cleric received an 11-year suspended sentence Sunday for tearing up and burning a Bible, Egypt's official news agency said.

Sometimes being the Pope takes you to strange places and requires you to bless strange things. Like Sunday, for instance, when Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley Davidson motorcycles and their riders visiting the Vatican for the bike's 110th anniversary. Motors roared and leather reigned during the Pope's usual Sunday …

CAIRO (Reuters) - A Cairo court sentenced an Egyptian Muslim preacher to 11 years in jail for blasphemy on Sunday for burning a Bible during a protest last year outside the U.S. embassy. Convictions for insulting Islam are common in Egypt, ruled by Islamists after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, but more …

VATICAN CITY - Biker culture came to the Vatican on Sunday as Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders celebrating the manufacturer's 110th anniversary with a loud parade and plenty of leather.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Biker culture came to the Vatican on Sunday as Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders celebrating the manufacturer's 110th anniversary with a loud parade and plenty of leather.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing lingering tensions in his party, the chairman of the Republican National Committee urged religious conservatives Saturday to support the GOP's plans to expand.

By Steve Scherer VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis urged a delegation of French lawmakers on Saturday to avoid following only "fashions and ideas of the moment", when legislating, in an apparent reference to the country's legalization of gay marriage last month. The law granting gay men and lesbians equality in marriage …

By Steve Scherer VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis made a key appointment to the Vatican bank on Saturday, part of a clean-up of the institution which has a history of murky financial dealings and is being closely watched by the European money-laundering watchdog. Francis backed the naming of Monsignor Mario Salvatore …

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis took a first big step in reforming the troubled Vatican bank on Saturday by tapping a trusted prelate to help oversee its management, in a sign he wants to know more about its activities.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Danielle Powell was going through a hard time in the spring of 2011, just months away from graduating from a conservative Christian college in Nebraska. She had fallen in love with another woman, a strictly forbidden relationship at a school where even prolonged hugs were banned.

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday signed a law protecting Christmas and other holiday celebrations in Texas public schools from legal challenges — but also stressed that freedom of religion is not the same thing as freedom from religion.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis waded diplomatically into the gay marriage debate Friday, telling the Archbishop of Canterbury he wants to work together to promote family values "based on marriage."

By Catherine Hornby VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis and the new head of the world's Anglicans acknowledged deep differences over issues ranging from gay rights to women priests but pledged to seek unity when they met on Friday for the first time since both took office in March. Relations between the Catholic and Anglican …

NEW YORK (AP) — The International Criminal Court has rejected a longshot request by clergy sex abuse victims to investigate former Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The U.N. goodwill ambassador for eliminating leprosy has written to Pope Francis complaining about his recent comment that careerism among Catholic Church officials was "a leprosy."

The Vatican put a new coin on sale last week to commemorate its historic papal transition. Too bad overseas collectors won't be able to buy it for months. The Associated Press has learned that the Vatican ...

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Don't even think of calling Ernst von Freyberg, the president of the Vatican bank, God's New Banker. "I don't appreciate incorrect and silly descriptions," he said with a smile in his Vatican office, shrugging off a nickname that some have given him since he assumed his post four …