Religion News Service

The recent sex abuse scandal involving Cardinal Theodore McCarrick raises once again the question of how the church can punish bad priests and bishops, especially when the state cannot because of the statute of limitations or other reasons.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced during a Department of Justice summit in Washington that he is creating a religious liberty task force to challenge what he called a dangerous movement "eroding our great tradition of religious freedom."

The State Department concluded its first-ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom July 26, with declarations promising further efforts to reduce religious persecution, even as critics said they are waiting to see its statements turned into actions.

As the sexual abuse scandal surrounding Cardinal Theodore McCarrick continued to spread in the past week, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, acknowledged on July 23 that "a major gap still exists in the church's policies on sexual conduct and sexual abuse."

Vice President Mike Pence used a State Department summit of foreign ministers and religious leaders to call on Turkey to release U.S. pastor Andrew Brunson and threatened the country with sanctions if it did not.

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback opened a summit at the State Department this week by urging leaders from a range of faiths to work together to help the persecuted across the globe.

The May 13 attack, which killed 13 churchgoers and a security officer and took place days before the start of Ramadan, was the deadliest terrorist attack in Indonesia since a 2002 bombing in Bali. Then, the target was foreign tourists. This time it was Indonesian Christians, a minority who make up about 10 percent of the population, according to the 2010 census. Many feared that the attacks were a sign that the country's religious diversity is under threat.

Russia dominated the discussion on a conference call with reporters and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo July 19 about next week's meeting on international religious freedom.

When Imam Arjan Abu Sa'ad turned on the news to see reports of toddlers being pulled from their families and detained in cages after crossing the U.S. border, he was shocked.  "I never thought I would see that in America," he said.

Fifty years ago, Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical that shook the Catholic Church to its core by declaring that every use of artificial contraceptives is immoral.

In the wee hours of Thursday July 19, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, passed a controversial nation-state law that explicitly defines Israel as the "national home of the Jewish people."

A new poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic shows that when it comes to politics, white evangelical Christians stand apart from every other religious group.

The unsealing of an affidavit this week charging 29-year-old Mariia Butina with "conspiracy to act as an agent of the Russian Federation" was yet another bombshell in the investigation into what U.S. intelligence agencies describe as Russian attempts to influence American elections and politics throughout 2016.

Documents filed with the United Methodist Church's top court are shedding first light on specifics of long-awaited proposals to avoid schism in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States.

It may be a law of nature: President Trump tweets something about Islam. Anti-Muslim hate crimes follow. That's according to a working paper by two researchers from the University of Warwick.

Some organizations are urging religious groups to consider more controversial ways to avert climate catastrophe.  One possible climate change solution in particular is getting more attention now: geoengineering.

Signs of the Times: There is universal agreement that those who have sex with minors should be prosecuted as criminals and expelled from the priesthood. But what about violations with adults? Are there other sexual violations that should be treated by the church with zero tolerance?

Same-sex couples will now be able to marry in their home parish even if their local bishop has moral objections to gay marriage, Episcopal Church leaders decided July 13.

If you're a Protestant married to a Catholic in Germany, you might be able to receive Communion along with your spouse in the Catholic Church. Then again, you may not be welcome to do so.

Two days after he was nominated by President Trump to the Supreme Court, Judge Brett Kavanaugh ladled mac and cheese into takeout trays outside Catholic Charities in Washington, D.C.