Beijing and the Vatican are again shadow boxing over the ordination of a new Chinese bishop without the Pope's blessing.
Episcopal priests will be allowed to conduct services blessing same-sex relationships under a policy approved Tuesday at the church's national convention in Indianapolis.
A minister's support for same-sex marriage costs him his congregation. CNN's David Mattingly reports.
Muslims and Christians alike say Egypt's generals have to go following clashes that left at least 25 dead on Sunday.
A Philadelphia jury was unable to reach a verdict Wednesday on four of five charges in a landmark priest sex abuse case, according to a source familiar with the proceeding.
One of the most powerful Catholic Church leaders in America approved payments of $20,000 to get abusive priests to leave the church, abuse victims and the archdiocese in question said Thursday.
Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman has denied the pontiff will resign over the arrest of his butler on suspicion of leaking confidential documents, the Vatican press office said Thursday.
An investigation into the Pope's butler continues in a document leaking scandal. CNN's Brooke Baldwin reports.
Pope Benedict XVI's spokesman denied Monday that a cardinal or a woman were being investigated alongside the pope's butler on suspicion of leaking confidential documents.
Some Vatican watchers are seeing a crisis of government at The Vatican. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.
Pope Benedict's butler has been arrested on suspicion of leaking confidential documents to an Italian journalist, the Vatican said Saturday.
A priest who assisted Monsignor William Lynn investigate clergy sex abuse claims testified Tuesday that it was not the archdiocese's policy to contact law enforcement or other victims of abuse.
A lawyer for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia testified Monday that church officials lied to him about the whereabouts of a hidden list of 35 priests suspected of sexually abusing children.
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland faces calls to resign. Peter Taggart explains why.
Pope Benedict XVI visits Cuba following the Vatican-brokered release of political prisoners. Patrick Oppmann reports.
Cuban President Raul Castro has granted Pope Benedict XVI's request to make Good Friday a holiday -- at least this year -- Cuban state media reported Saturday.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports on Pope Benedict's Havana Mass and his meetings with the Castro brothers.
Greeted by throngs of Catholic worshipers from across the region, Pope Benedict XVI ended his two-country tour in Havana's Revolution Plaza with a reference to what he described as a need for "authentic freedom."
Pope Benedict XVI presided over Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, delivering a homily that focused on the "essence" of the holiday rather than the "commercial celebration" it has become.
Pope Benedict XVI speaks about the need for peace in his Christmas Eve Mass.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Havana on Tuesday amid speculation over whether he will meet with the island's former president, Fidel Castro, and how far he'll press the country for greater political and religious freedoms.
Thousands of Catholics greet Pope Benedict XVI in an open air Mass in central Mexico.
Cubans return home to emotional homecomings ahead of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Cuba. CNN's Patrick Oppmann reports.
CNN's Rafael Romo says Pope Benedict XVI wearing a sombrero holds significant symbolism for the Mexican people.
Opening statements are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.
Opening arguments are scheduled for Monday in Philadelphia in the first case in which an official of a Roman Catholic archdiocese has been accused of protecting abusive priests by moving them from parish to parish.
On the same day Pope Benedict addressed and blessed a group of 1,800 children in Guanajuato, Mexico, three Mexican authors released a book accusing the Vatican of hiding or ignoring cases of child sex abuse by Roman Catholic priests.
Pope Benedict XVI begins a Latin American tour in historical Guanajuato, Mexico. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
The Mexican government is spending millions of dollars to welcome the pope. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
It has been a project of celestial proportions, but it's finally ready. Construction workers have labored nonstop for months.
There was a time when the Republican Party was strictly for White Anglo Saxon Protestants. It was an alliance between Country Club Episcopalians and twice born followers of the Old Time Gospel, all firmly opposed to mass Catholic immigration from Europe. The nativism of the GOP drove Catholics into the welcoming arms of Al Smith, Jack Kennedy, Tip O'Neill and the Democratic Party.
It was an exciting day for Laura Dominguez and her 11-year-old daughter Paulina.
A papal visit to Mexico is likely to be overshadowed by the previous pope. CNN's Rafael Romo reports.
Thousands of people flooded into Cairo's Abbasiya Cathedral Tuesday to say a final farewell to Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of Egypt's Coptic Christians for more than four decades.
Mourners pay their respects at the funeral of Coptic Pope Shenouda III who died on Saturday. CNN's Ian Lee reports.
Cuban authorities have released dozens of members of the "Ladies in White" group after detaining them, a dissident said Monday.
Overcrowding inside a cathedral where Coptic Christians had gathered to pay last respects to their pope caused a stampede that left three people dead and more than 50 injured, a health official said.
Coptic Pope Shenouda III, the spiritual leader of Egypt's Coptic Christian community for nearly four decades, died Saturday, according to the head of the Egyptian General Coptic Association. He was 88.
Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, head of the 85 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, announced Friday he will step down from his post at the end of the year.
The Archbishop of Canterbury appeals to President Mugabe to end the persecution of Anglicans. Nkepile Mabuse reports.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann moves from Seattle to Havana, Cuba.
Thirteen Cubans who occupied a church in Havana in the hopes of meeting with the pope instead were escorted from the building late Thursday by police, the Havana Archdiocese said.
Sen. Rick Santorum, who is campaigning to become America's second Catholic president, disagrees from the bottom of his gut with the first Catholic to hold the office.
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports on a memo that says a Philadephia cardinal ordered a priest sex abuse file shredded.
A judge on Monday rejected a motion to dismiss charges against a Philadelphia archdiocese official accused of covering up evidence of suspected sexual abuse of children.
A poll released Wednesday showed Rick Santorum maintaining his lead nationwide among likely Republican voters, topping his closest rival Mitt Romney by a margin of nine percentage points.
Pope Benedict appointed 22 new cardinals at the Vatican on Saturday, with his choices for the lofty role likely to influence who will be appointed as the next pontiff.
A top Roman Catholic official opened a conference on protecting children from sexual abuse Monday by defending Pope Benedict XVI, arguing that he deserved thanks for his efforts.
The Catholic church is outraged at new contraception rules. CNN's Brianna Keilar has more.
Recently, the chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Religious Liberty argued that the Obama administration's requirement that most health insurance plans cover contraception goes against "the mandate of Jesus Christ."
Pope Benedict XVI prayed for peace in Syria, reconciliation in Myanmar, and comfort in flood-stricken Thailand and the Philippines in his annual Christmas message "To the City and the World" on Sunday.
Pope Benedict XVI confirmed plans Monday to visit Mexico and Cuba before Easter.
If there is one institution that has made a point of desperately trying to keep women in their place, it's organized religion.
The Archdiocese of Chicago will pay $3.2 million to settle a lawsuit that alleged church leaders failed to remove a priest they knew had sexually abused minors, the plaintiff's attorneys said Tuesday.
Pope Benedict XVI is planning potential trips to Mexico and Cuba in 2012, the Vatican said.
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, a leading evangelical minister, claimed last Friday that Mormons are not Christians. Jeffress went on to declare that Mormonism is "a cult," meaning it's not a "real" religion, and he implored his followers to reject Mitt Romney, a Mormon, as a candidate for president because as Jeffress sees it: "As Christians, we have the duty to prefer and select Christians as our leaders."
Violence has returned to the streets of Cairo -- this time in fresh confrontations between army forces and pro-Coptic Christian protesters.
Thomas Jefferson famously wrote about the wall of separation between church and state. He didn't mention separating church and politics, but everybody knows it's a sticky wicket.
CNN's Candy Crowley looks at how GOP candidates are dancing around fellow Republican Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.
The archbishop of Canterbury tries to heal rifts in the Anglican church of Zimbabwe, Nkepile Mabuse reports
Egyptian Prime Minister Essam Sharaf said Monday that clashes hours earlier between army forces and pro-Coptic Christian protesters had "brought us back" to the tense, violent period at the onset of the recent revolution.
Pope Benedict XVI said goodbye to his native Germany on Sunday, capping a packed four-day visit in which he met with political and religious leaders in a country that -- like many others in Europe -- has seen growing disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI meets members of the Muslim community in Germany. CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports.
On the third day of his visit to his native Germany, Pope Benedict XVI made two stops Saturday straddling the lines of history that have divided the country violently -- in past decades into Communist east and democratic west and in past centuries into mostly Protestant north and stalwart Catholic south.
Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with a group of people who had been sexually abused by clergy in his native Germany, where disenchantment with the Roman Catholic Church has grown in the wake of the scandal.
On his first state visit to his homeland, Pope Benedict XVI met Thursday with Germany's prime minister and president and spoke to legislators, but insisted that his purpose was not economic or political, but spiritual.
Ireland stepped up its battle with the Roman Catholic Church over child abuse Sunday, with Justice Minister Alan Shatter vowing to pass a law requiring priests to report suspicions of child abuse, even if they learn about them in confession.
The Vatican has rejected criticism that church leaders sought to cover up extensive abuse of young people by priests in Ireland, in a lengthy statement sent to the Irish government Saturday.
Pope Benedict XVI is in Madrid, Spain for World Youth Day. CNN's Al Goodman reports.
Rio de Janeiro will host the next World Youth Day, Pope Benedict XVI announced Sunday to hundreds of thousands of young Roman Catholic pilgrims at the close of this year's event in Madrid.
Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Madrid for World Youth Day, but demonstrators protest over the cost of the pontiff's visit.
Catholic youths should not hide their beliefs from their peers, Pope Benedict XVI told them in a World Youth Day speech delivered Thursday in Spain.
A man arrested in Madrid on suspicion of planning an attack against a demonstration to protest the visit of Pope Benedict XVI was a volunteer for the papal visit's organizing committee, a committee senior spokesman said Wednesday.
Critics say hosting Pope Benedict XVI in Madrid for World Youth Day is too costly. CNN's Al Goodman reports.
To fight child abuse by priests, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops revised its 2002 charter Thursday, the group said.
Evangelist Billy Graham makes his first public appearance in years while attending the re-opening of his library.
Famed evangelist Billy Graham, 92, was being treated Wednesday at an Asheville, North Carolina, hospital for pneumonia following an overnight health episode, according to a spokesman.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Tuesday voted to allow the ordination of openly gay and lesbian ministers.
Ben Wedeman reports on how an outbreak of sectarian violence resulted in attacks on churches in Cairo.
Muslim-Christian sectarian violence intensified in Egypt this weekend, spurring an emergency meeting of the Cabinet and public exhortations from Coptic Christians for international protection.
At least six people were killed and 120 injured in sectarian clashes outside a church in Cairo on Saturday, officials said.
The late Catholic leader moves one step closer to becoming a saint
CNN's Diana Magnay on the reaction to John Paul II's beatification in the Polish city of Krakow.
For many Poles, John Paul II's beatification simply confirms what they already knew. They thought him a saint already, the very fact of his papacy a blessing for Poland.
Nadia Bilchik talks to T.J. Holmes about the process of beatification, and others who have been through the process.
Christopher Lukasik was building shelves when a metal rod hit his eye, tearing about a third of his optic nerve fibers and leaving everybody from his doctors to his family wondering whether he would ever see again.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe arrived in Rome for the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II, airport officials said Saturday, despite his EU-wide travel ban for alleged human rights abuses.
More than one million people are expected in Rome this weekend for the beatification of Pope John Paul II, the biggest event in Vatican City since his death six years ago.
During Easter celebrations at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI addresses the conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa.
The New Hampshire House majority leader lashed out Friday on his Facebook page at a Roman Catholic bishop, calling the clergyman a "pedophile pimp" who "has no moral credibility to lecture anyone."
Egypt's military has started rebuilding a church burned down in an outbreak of unrest between Christian Copts and Muslims, a military official told CNN on Sunday.
Thirteen people were killed and 90 wounded in clashes between Coptic Christians and Muslims in Cairo, state-run Egyptian television reported Wednesday.
Mourners gathered Thursday to bury seven Coptic Christians killed in sectarian clashes that left more than a dozen dead in the Egyptian capital this week.
The Vatican is warning people who plan to travel to the beatification of Pope John Paul II to look out for scammers claiming to sell tickets for the ceremony.
A lawsuit claims that the owners of the World Trade Center reneged on an agreement for rebuilding a Greek Orthodox church destroyed in the collapse of the twin towers after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Iraqi Christians seeking refuge in France face an uncertain future. CNN's Jim Bittermann reports.
At Sunday mass in the suburbs outside Paris, a score of Iraqi Catholics are praying for themselves and their families.
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