Religion News Service

As the U.S. Catholic bishops gather in Baltimore to discuss controversial issues such as clerical sexual abuse and racism, some people are talking about the threat of schism.

Dozens of students at the University of Notre Dame took a knee during the playing of the national anthem at the Catholic school's football game in South Bend, Ind., this weekend, saying their faith compels them to protest racism.

The new CBS hourlong dramedy "God Friended Me" premiered to such impressive ratings that the network gave a full-season order. Its surprise success has caused some media watchers to wonder whether we're on the cusp of a religion renaissance on the small screen.

The U. S. ambassador for religious freedom called for renewed activism on protecting faiths around the globe on Nov. 9 as religious liberty advocates gathered in the nation's capital to mark the 20th anniversary of the International Religious Freedom Act.

It took about a week for visitors to the massive Catholic cathedral in Cologne, Germany, to notice a small addition to its ornate Gothic entrance — a carved stone figure of Pope Francis leaning forward like a gargoyle.

President Donald Trump's administration has issued new rules it says will "provide conscience protections for Americans who have a religious or moral objection to health insurance that covers contraception methods."

Methodists asked Jeff Sessions to repent. He resigned instead, ending a tenure marked by near-constant pushback from faith communities across the religious spectrum who opposed his policies and his attempts to defend them with Scripture.

Thousands of Catholics in one of the world's poorest nations are objecting after the church asked the government to collect a 10 percent tithe from worshippers on its behalf.

Donald Trump isn't at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto, but his influence is widely felt here.

The Islamic State in Egypt claimed responsibility for an ambush on  buses carrying Coptic Christians Nov. 2.

A delegation of conservative evangelical Christian leaders from the United States met Nov. 1 with Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, who is under fire after the death of a journalist in his country's consulate in Istanbul.

Jewish groups are speaking out against Vice President Mike Pence's appearance at a rally Oct. 29 in Michigan with Loren Jacobs, a defrocked clergyman in the Messianic Jewish movement.

A new survey shows a sharp racial and religious divide over whether the actions of President Trump are encouraging white supremacist organizations.

For those looking for Pope Francis' synod of bishops on young people to settle the current divides in the Catholic Church between bishops and laity, conservatives and reformers, LGBT Catholics and those who regard that group as an oxymoron, the synod's final report is bound to disappoint.

How could we be surprised? Did we think that we, the American Jewish community, could splash blood upon our communal door and thus ward off the twin angels of hatred and death?

In May, Roberto Rauda, an undocumented immigrant, went to a New London, Conn., courthouse to pay a fine for carrying an open container of beer. Instead he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a routine sweep and ended up in the Bristol County House of Corrections in North Dartmouth, Mass.

The more than 30 young adults taking part in a global meeting of Catholic leaders to discuss how to engage today's youth have been dismissed by critics of the summit as irrelevant, or insufficiently orthodox, or worse.

A federal court heard oral arguments this week on whether a longstanding housing tax break for clergy called a "parsonage allowance exclusion" is constitutional, setting the stage for a clash over competing claims of religious privilege and religious discrimination.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage is launching an independent commission on sexual abuse to review all personnel files of those who have served in the region since 1966 and plans to release names of any Catholic church workers in their purview with credible sexual misconduct claims against them.

The Catholic bishops of the U.S. announced Oct. 23 that at the behest of Pope Francis they will meet for a weeklong retreat in Chicago in January.