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(RNS) ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Episcopal Church on Tuesday (July 14) overwhelmingly voted to lift a three-year-old moratorium on consecrating gay and lesbian bishops, despite warnings that the ban was necessary to preserve unity in the wider Anglican Communion. A large majority of Episcopal bishops, priests and lay delegates gathered here for the church’s triennial…

WASHINGTON — As a federal judge, Sonia Sotomayor sided with Santeria prisoners who wanted to wear religious beads and Muslim inmates who wanted to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan. At the same time, she ruled against Muslims who wanted a Muslim crescent and star added to post office holiday displays that…

(RNS) Gary Tobin, a sometimes controversial researcher who studied Jewish demographics and the growth of contemporary Judaism, died of cancer in a hospital in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on July 6. He was 59. The self-described “radical thinker” made it his life work countering conventional Judaism in his research studying anti-Semitism, Jewish philanthropy, and the growth…

WASHINGTON – The plaintiff in Roe v. Wade, who became an anti-abortion protester in recent years, was among four protesters arrested Monday for disrupting Sonia Sotomayor’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing. Better known as “Jane Roe,” 61-year-old Norma McCorvey of Texas began screaming during the opening statement of the newest senator, Al Franken, D-Minn. McCorvey’s suit…

BOSTON – A lay Catholic group founded in the worst days of the church’s clergy sex abuse scandal said Monday it may be forced to cease operations because of a downturn in donations. Leaders of Voice of the Faithful sent out a fundraising letter Monday to members saying it is “at the crossroads of financial…

(RNS) The world’s largest security training organization has opened a new church-security division and will instruct churches on how to prevent and respond to violent crimes at its annual conference in September. ASIS International’s new church-security division will lead a seminar at its convention in Anaheim, Calif., to address threats and vulnerabilities that leave faith-based…

VATICAN CITY — President Obama met Pope Benedict XVI for the first time on Friday (July 10) in a closed-door meeting that a Vatican statement said covered multiple topics but focused on the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion. The pope also gave Obama copies of his recent encyclical on the global economy and a statement…

URUMQI, China – The petite Muslim woman with the sky blue head scarf began by complaining that the public washrooms were closed at a crowded mosque on Friday – the most important day of the week for Islamic worship. When a group gathered around her on the sidewalk, Madina Ahtam then railed against communist rule…

BOSTON — The historic Church of the Covenant just off the city’s Public Garden has been an important place for Anne Crane and Sarah Perreault. The lesbian couple had their first date there in the late 1970s, and by the time Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2003, the two had been active members for more…

WASHINGTON – The national motto, “In God We Trust,” will be engraved in the Capitol Visitor Center, responding to critics who said Congress spent $621 million on the new facility without paying due respect to the nation’s religious heritage. The House voted 410-8 Thursday to direct the Architect of the Capitol to engrave “In God…
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