Religion News

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI will break with tradition this year and celebrate Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at 10 p.m. instead of midnight, the Vatican said Monday. Full Story »

Washington - The US Supreme Court on Monday agreed to take up a case testing the limits of religious freedom and association when those rights clash with a college's policy of nondiscrimination against gays and lesbians. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The election of a second openly gay bishop in the Anglican Church drew a stern warning from the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the 77 million Anglicans worldwide. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI Sunday called for "responsible" action on the environment to give relief to "the poor and future generations," ahead of the opening of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES - The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles has elected a lesbian as assistant bishop, the second openly gay bishop in the global Anglican fellowship, which is already deeply fractured over the first. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has told world leaders attending the climate summit in Copenhagen that caring for God's creation requires they adopt sober and responsible lifestyles. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Los Angeles' Episcopal Diocese elected an openly lesbian priest as assistant bishop on Saturday, a move likely to stoke more tensions in the global Anglican community over the divisive issue of gay clergy. Full Story »

BRATTLEBORO, Vt. - For almost 100 years, the multicolored image of St. John the Divine has gazed down from a stained glass window in the choir loft of First Baptist Church. Full Story »

Leaders of a significant number of the nation's Roman Catholic sisters are challenging aspects of a Vatican investigation of their communities, declining to answer questions they say are ambiguous, inappropriate and out of step with the probe's stated purpose. Full Story »

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up in a mosque and two other militants fired on worshipers near Pakistan's military headquarters after Friday prayers, killing at least 40 people, including army officials. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI and visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Thursday to upgrade Vatican-Kremlin relations to full diplomatic ties, the Vatican said. Full Story »

For Muslim punks in the U.S., there is plenty to rebel against -- theAmerican 'establishment,' for sure, as well as the strict codes of their ownreligion Full Story »

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The Gospel of Luke records that, as he was dying on the cross, Jesus showed his boundless mercy by praying for his killers this way: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Full Story »

How much is Sarah Palin's new book tailored to evangelical Christian readers? Her writing partner for Going Rogue, Lynn Vincent, is a longtime editor at World magazine, which practices "biblical worldview journalism." Though the book is published by an imprint of HarperCollins, it is being distributed to Christian booksellers by Zondervan, the world's leading publisher of Bibles. And Going Rogue brims with testimony about Palin's Christian faith. ... Full Story »

ANKARA (AFP) - A Turkish minister said he expected Muslims to withdraw their money from Swiss banks in response to a referendum vote that banned the construction of minarets in the country, in remarks published Wednesday. Full Story »

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court won't revive a student's lawsuit against a school that punished her for talking about her religion during her high school graduation speech. Full Story »

GENEVA - A Swiss ban on minarets could violate fundamental liberties, Europe's top human-rights watchdog said Monday in an indication that the heavily criticized vote could be overturned. Full Story »

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is calling for prayers and concrete action to comfort all those who are suffering from AIDS. Full Story »