BALTIMORE — A priest lured 9-year-old David Schappelle into a private area of St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Gaithersburg decades ago under the guise of teaching him about confession.

Father Wayland Brown proceeded to masturbate under his “ceremonial robe,” withdraw his hand when he was finished and tell the boy that “God will be ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Survivors of child sexual abuse in Maryland on Wednesday demanded expediency from the state attorney general in its investigations of the Catholic dioceses of Washington and Wilmington, Delaware.

Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, told reporters at a news conference that they hoped the Maryland ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — South Hope Street is quiet on a Sunday morning. Five blocks over in Skid Row, police are investigating a shooting, but in the Financial District, calm prevails.

Parking lots are nearly empty. Guests at the Sheraton are checking out early. The unhoused have mostly left their sidewalk beds, and Jeffrey Taylor and Deborah Johnson ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — A woman and her parents are suing Gateway Church and a former youth group attendee, alleging she was sexually assaulted and groomed by a high school senior when she was 13 years old.

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in a Tarrant County District Court. The plaintiffs are seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — Gateway Church has canceled its annual conference in the aftermath of its founder and head pastor resigning after admitting he sexually abused a 12-year-old girl in the 1980s.

The church announced the cancellation of the conference on the event website.

“We’re continuing to pursue truth, and we’re filled with hope ...Read more

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz’s vibe has been defined by the internet as “Midwestern dad,” but Minnesotans know their governor as something more specific: a “Minnesota Lutheran” dad.

If elected alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, who herself is Baptist, he could be the first — or second — Lutheran vice ...Read more

ATLANTA — As a teenager, the Rev. Andi Woodworth spoke out against the lack of racial diversity at a Christian youth camp.

Decades later Woodworth is still speaking on that and a broader range of issues including support of the LGBTQ community, reproductive rights and social justice.

She’s speaking out at a time when state lawmakers around...Read more

For people who supposedly revere the Founding Fathers, some Christian conservatives seem to have no problem ignoring one of their most abiding principles: the separation of church and state. Now the chief of schools in Oklahoma is demanding that all public schools teach the Bible from grades 5 through 12, saying it is necessary for an ...Read more

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the ordination of 11 women as priests in the Episcopal Church, and the milestone is being cited by some commentators as the beginning of the decline of the denomination.

As an Episcopal priest and a student of American religious history, I heartily disagree.

On July 29, 1974, amid threats of violence, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles City Council members Katy Yaroslavsky and Bob Blumenfield withdrew their proposal to provide city funding for security at synagogues, mosques and other religious institutions on Wednesday, saying state funds are now available to cover such expenses.

Yaroslavsky and Blumenfield proposed the creation of a $2 million ...Read more

BALTIMORE — Mediation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case will “begin as soon as reasonably possible,” a judge has ruled, thrusting the proceeding into its most critical phase.

During the forthcoming negotiations, attorneys and mediators will work together to determine how much money the diocese and its insurers have to ...Read more

BALTIMORE — A judge is set to decide whether to approve an agreement for the terms of mediation in the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michelle M. Harner is considering a proposed order for mediation crafted by attorneys for the Catholic church, a committee of sex abuse survivors and the archdiocese’s ...Read more

Two well-known evangelical leaders will serve as interim pastors of Gateway Church after its founder and senior pastor, Robert Morris, resigned following revelations of child sexual abuse.

Max Lucado, a charismatic evangelical author and San Antonio pastor, and Joakim Lundqvist, a leader of an megachurch in Sweden, will share the ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The Archdiocese of Baltimore’s bankruptcy case moved closer to the critical mediation phase Monday, as attorneys for the Catholic Church, its insurance carriers and a committee of sex abuse survivors reached a tentative agreement on the terms for upcoming negotiations.

The agreement is tentative because the lawyers still need ...Read more

Oklahoma is mandating Bible lessons in public schools. Louisiana is requiring display of the 10 commandments in classrooms.

As the national debate churns over the role of religion in public schools, Florida, too, stands near the center of the storm.

Its law to permit chaplains in classrooms, which took effect July 1, has gained wide attention ...Read more

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — New substantiated sexual abuse allegations have surfaced against a former priest in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas who served prison time after being convicted in 2002 of indecent liberties with a child, church officials say.

“With deep sorrow for the suffering of victims and survivors of abuse, the Archdiocese...Read more

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Archbishop William Lori struck a unified tone with the chair of the committee representing sex abuse victims in the Catholic Church’s bankruptcy case at a news conference Monday, as both men acknowledged the number of survivors who filed claims is not yet known.

Lori and Paul Jan Zdunek, chair of the creditor’s ...Read more

In the Catholic faith, sainthood is reserved for those who have lived a life of heroic virtues, acted as a martyr or taken part in miracles. The designation typically comes after the person has been dead for decades, even hundreds of years.

That changed last week, when Pope Francis recognized the first saint of the millennial generation in the ...Read more

During his Sunday sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church, U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock spoke out against the U.S. Supreme Court ruling about presidential immunity, saying the court is “mired in corruption” and encouraged his flock to pray, organize and vote.

“I came to warn you we are in dangerous territory,” Warnock said. “If ever we needed ...Read more