Latest Religion News
UK police charge 25-year-old man with lawmaker's murder
LONDON (AP) — A man has been charged in the stabbing of a Conservative lawmaker who was killed as he met constituents at a church hall last week. Authorities say a 25-year-old British man with Somali heritage, Ali Harbi Ali, has been charged under the Terrorism Act in...
Tool for police reform rarely used by local prosecutors
SEATTLE (AP) — Isaiah Obet was behaving erratically and in mental distress in 2017 when Officer Jeff Nelson ordered his police dog to attack and then shot Obet in the torso. Obet fell to the ground and Nelson fired again, fatally shooting Obet in the head. The officer said his life was in...
Tennessee man pleads guilty in series of church fires
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee man pleaded guilty Wednesday to civil rights violations for setting fires at four churches, prosecutors said. Alan Douglas Fox, 28, of Nashville, admitted during the plea hearing that he intentionally set the fires because of the...
Minnesota colleges investigate alleged sex competition
COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University are investigating allegations that some male students started a competition this fall to see who could have more sexual encounters with female students. The allegations were first...
Efforts drag on to free 17 missionaries kidnapped in Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Efforts to win the return of 17 members of a U.S.-based missionary group and a local driver stretched into a fourth day Wednesday, with a violent gang demanding $1 million ransom per person. The group seized includes five children aged from...
New redistricting committee all but gives up map effort
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s new bipartisan redistricting committee all but gave up its effort to draw new congressional maps after committee members could not find consensus on what constitutes a politically fair map. The redistricting committee had already...
Across Africa, major churches strongly oppose LGBTQ rights
In Ghana, home to a diverse array of religions, leaders of major churches have united in denouncing homosexuality as a “perversion” and endorsing legislation that would, if enacted, impose some of the harshest anti-LGBTQ policies in Africa. In Nigeria, the umbrella...
Lincoln bishop reassigns priests accused of misconduct
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln Diocese has reassigned and placed restrictions on a pair of priests after an investigation into misconduct claims. The reassigned priests are Scott Courtney, who faced allegations that he had sexual contact with a woman, and Thomas...
Christian boarding school sues over new oversight law
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Christian boarding school is suing to stop state officials from implementing new regulations that were put in place following long-running abuse at some unlicensed residential care facilities. The Kansas City Star reports that CNS...
Retired pope hopes to soon join friends in 'the afterlife'
ROME (AP) — Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said he hopes to soon join a beloved professor friend in “the afterlife,” in a sign that the 94-year-old pontiff is not only accepting his eventual death but welcoming it. Benedict penned an Oct. 2 letter to a German priest,...
