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(RNS) American leaders of a conservative Catholic movement have apologized for their founder’s sexual misbehavior and ordered followers to cease honoring his memory with portraits or “inappropriate” references in official literature. Regional leaders of Regnum Christi, the lay movement affiliated with the religious order the Legion of Christ, made the statements in a letter addressed…

WASHINGTON– When it’s time to relax, some senators play golf. Others pour themselves a drink. But Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, isn’t inclined toward the greens and his faith preaches against alcohol. Instead, he’s spent time on and off for the last seven years building a defense of the Book of Mormon, one of the key…

BALTIMORE (RNS) Ten Maryland nuns — almost an entire religious community — converted from the Episcopal Church to Catholicism on Thursday (Sept. 3), saying their former denomination had become too liberal in its acceptance of homosexuality. The ten members of the All Saints Sisters of the Poor, who were received into the Catholic Church by…

(RNS) The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association has denied the claims of a black former employee who filed suit, alleging she was fired after expressing concern that the ministry was not sufficiently reaching out to African-American churches. The racial discrimination lawsuit by Kimberly McCallum was moved Wednesday (Sept. 2) from a local court to a federal…

BOSTON — Like he has most of the last 25 Labor Day weekends, Imam Taalib Mahdee will spend this one in Chicago at an annual convention organized by the Ministry of Warith Deen Mohammed. The big difference this year? Mohammed, who died a few days after last year’s convention at age 74, won’t be there.…

WASHINGTON — As members of a secretive brotherhood, Freemasons are no strangers to conspiracy theories. They’ve heard it all before: that they’re child-sacrificing cult members, or religious zealots plotting aNew World Order with the Jews, or satanic anti-religious alien spies. With Dan Brown’s newest novel, “The Lost Symbol,” hitting bookstores on Sept. 15, — much…

TRIER, Germany (RNS/ENI) A German priest who distributes condoms to help stem the spread of HIV/AIDS can continue working at his South African clinic but must give up the pulpit at a local Catholic church under a new deal with his bishop. The Rev. Stefan Hippler, who has worked in Africa for 12 years,served a…

(RNS) A meatpacking company was wrong to fire more than 200 Muslim employees who walked off the job to protest insufficient breaks during Ramadan last year, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Workers at the JBS Swift & Co. plants in Greeley, Colo., and Grand Island, Neb., had wanted their breaks rescheduled to…

PORTLAND, Ore. – A law backed by the Ku Klux Klan nearly a century ago to keep Catholics out of public schools is still on the books in Oregon, one of the last states in the nation to prohibit teachers from wearing religious clothing in classrooms. Both Pennsylvania and Nebraska have similar laws, which try…

WASHINGTON (RNS) President Obama highlighted the contributions of Muslim Americans Tuesday (Sept. 1) during his first Iftar dinner marking the observance of Ramadan. “Islam, as we know, is part of America,” he said, addressing, diplomats, faith leaders and members of Congress gathered in the State Dining Room for the feast that traditionally breaks the daily…

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