Religion News

The past week's dustup over contraception underscored President Barack Obama's early advantage in one important area: working to attract independent voters without alienating his Democratic base.

Three gunmen ambushed a military general on a residential street in Damascus on Saturday, the Syrian government reported, in an assassination of a government stalwart that was the first of its kind in the Syrian capital and another step away from the nonviolent roots of the antigovernment protests.

A group of young theologians and leaders is marking the 50th anniversary of the Roman Catholic Church's Second Vatican Council with a conference at Boston College.

One dismissive reviewer of Santorum's 2005 book, "It Takes a Family," wrote in The Philadelphia Inquirer that Santorum is "one of the finest minds of the thirteenth century." This is no insult: it is the heart of Santorum's appeal to conservative evangelicals.... The pundits are right about one thing: Santorum is the rock-ribbed anti-Romney ... (more)

Some 200 Catholic priests suspected of sexual abuse are living undetected in communities across California, according to an attorney who represents hundreds of plaintiffs who sued the LA Archdiocese for molestation they say was inflicted on them by priests and clergy of the church.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is stepping up efforts to sink a ballot question that would make physician-assisted suicide legal in Massachusetts.

In this Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2010 file photo Italian financial Police officers talk, in front of St.

Lawyers for a man who was sexually abused decades ago by a priest at a Wisconsin school for the deaf have asked a court to dismiss their lawsuit naming Pope Benedict XVI and other top Vatican officials as defendants.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. speaks about birth control and contraceptive coverage, Thursday, Feb.

A YouTube video of a white comedian who painted his face black and quizzed Brigham Young University students about Black History Month has brought some unwanted attention to the Mormon-run school.

"It's absolutely unacceptable. It's just an economic shell game because it, for religious employers, requires indirect funding of contraception and abortifacients.

As word trickled out of a White House compromise with Catholic groups on its rule around contraception coverage on Friday morning, administration officials took to the phones to sell the plan to religious leaders across the spectrum.

President Barack Obama, grappling with a political firestorm that threatened to consume his administration, unveiled a birth control compromise Friday that he said would both protect religious liberties and ensure that women have access to free contraception.

The battle over who should pay for contraceptives and how has been framed in the news media as Catholics versus the Obama White House.

House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday following a GOP strategy session.

WASHINGTON - Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday that the White House is working to address concerns raised by the Catholic Church over a new rule on contraceptives and that he thinks an escalating election-year battle over the issue can be resolved.

Bridgeport Bishop William Lori, right, is one of the most vocal opponents of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius' decision to require religious groups to cover contraception in employee health-care plans.

Republicans looking to take back the White House in November face a challenging political environment, a trio of conservative political observers said Thursday at an annual gathering of conservative activists.

Politico has a rather odd post today, claiming that the Obama administration's decision to adopt a very popular health care policy is somehow alienating "high-profile Catholic Democrats." And whom does Politico cite as evidence? At this point, the Democratic defectors are few in number but tall in stature.

The lawyer representing a former altar boy suing the Catholic Archdiocese of Hartford for sexual abuse by a priest three decades ago told jurors Thursday that the victim probably can never be compensated for the "amputation of his spirit." "You can't put a price on that," attorney Thomas McNamara told a Superior Court jury in his closing argument.