Many Catholics are hopeful the new pope will initiate needed change in their Church. There are some early signs that his papacy might be different. But it remains to be seen whether Pope Francis will be a proponent of change or an opponent to it.

STOVER, Mo. (RNS) The Rev. Travis Smith paced First Baptist Church's sanctuary, decorated for the holidays with poinsettias and a Christmas tree. He a...

Every Sunday, millions of American Christians attend a megachurch that preaches a "prosperity gospel" of health, wealth and happiness. But in this era of supersized banks and corporations, prosperity megachurches have become just another organization that assumes it is too big to fail.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Vatican won a major victory Monday in an Oregon federal courtroom, where a judge ruled that the Holy See is not the employer of ...

Forty-thousand religious Jews gathered at Citi Field to discuss the "grave" threat the Internet poses to their religious lifestyle. From the moment I found out about this event, I was dumbfounded.

When I heard that thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews were gathering together to address a pressing issue in the religious community, I was furious that the issue being addressed at the unusually elaborate meeting was the dangers of the Internet.

NEW YORK -- Roman Catholic dioceses and religious orders said they received 594 credible claims of clergy sex abuse last year, with all but a few of t...

No matter how much some individuals would like to put the sexual abuse scandal behind them, they can no longer appeal to an obedient laity to ignore or downplay the crimes, according to new research.

Judaism does not place the same emphasis on confession as the Catholic faith does, but we do want people to feel comfortable speaking with their rabbi while they're in the process of repentance.

The day after a ruling that would have compelled Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua to testify in the cases against the Church in pedophilia scandals, it is announced that the Cardinal died overnight.

By Tim Townsend St. Louis Post-Dispatch ST. LOUIS (RNS) The director of a leading victims' advocacy group refused to answer some questions or turn...

Early in the spring of 1994, a hard-charging San Francisco lawyer named Robert Bryan hired a private investigator to do some digging into what was happening at the San Francisco Archdiocese.

Can we not agree that clergy are not CSI experts, and that suspected crimes should be reported promptly to the police for a proper investigation?

By Francis X. Rocca Religion News Service VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican will use online education and other methods to help the world's Catholic bis...

The list of downright despicable behavior I witnessed over the years is too long to mention here -- everything from financial impropriety to sexual indiscretions to cruelty-for-pleasure.

If the Catholic Church is to erase this stain on its reputation, it will have to be based on a complete reversal of its callous shielding of abusers within its ranks. I and other victims are still waiting.

In the U.S. alone, the annual reports of virtually every denomination show steep and perhaps even irreversible declines. Could this be the beginning of the end of religion?

Bishop Blase Cupich, chair of the U.S. Bishops' Committee on Protection of Children and Young People, speaks about the work of the committee in implem...

The opportunity for accountability, resolution and a promise for the protection of vulnerable children is now.

By Eleanor Goldberg Religion News Service WASHINGTON (RNS) Protesting every day for the last 12 years has become more challenging for John Wojnowski ...

The psychiatrist said, "[he] was narcissistic, like other pedophiles, and I repeatedly warned church officials in the 1980s that he shouldn't be allow...

Since the papacy has been frozen in a defensive crouch, defying historical fact and free inquiry, it has been opposed to anything that might diminish ...