Republican presidential contender Rick Santorum, leading the GOP field in national polls, is defending his views questioning prenatal testing and President Obama’s “theology.” The unapologetic advocacy by Santorum seemed sure to please social conservatives in the Republican Party but also fuel questions about whether he could appeal to independent voters in a general election. Appearing [...]

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For the fourth year in a row, President Obama is proposing lower tax deductions for the wealthy on donations to churches and other nonprofit organizations. And for the fourth year in a row, nonprofit groups say the change would lead to a dramatic drop in charitable giving. The reduction, included in Obama’s 2013 budget proposal, [...]

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It isn’t anywhere on the official agenda, but as Roman Catholic leaders meet in Rome this weekend, looming in the background will be a recent string of Vatican leaks that reveal a bitter power struggle among the hierarchy. In recent weeks, several confidential memos and documents by senior Vatican officials have appeared in the Italian [...]

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For the Rev. Jerry Henry, pastor of First Baptist Church of Fairhope, being Southern Baptist is a defining aspect of life. He embraces the denomination’s conservative social values, extols its evangelism — “We reach out to people instead of waiting for them to come to us” — and identifies with its name. “I grew up [...]

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A British High Court justice has triggered dismay and anger across England and Wales with a recent decision that declares prayers at town hall meetings are against the law. Justice Duncan Ouseley ruled Friday (Feb. 10) that local government councils were violating a 40-year-old law if they conducted prayers “as part of a formal local [...]

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Americans are split on a federal mandate requiring nearly all employers — even institutions with strong religious affiliations — to provide insurance covering contraception. That’s according to a new poll that found that 62 percent of Americans are aware of the controversy, which has pitted the Obama administration against Catholic bishops and evangelical Christian leaders. [...]

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LONDON (RNS) Britain’s Court of Appeal has ordered a pair of Christian innkeepers to pay 3,600 pounds ($5,800) in damages to a gay couple that was told they could not share a room in the couple’s guesthouse. The three-judge panel rejected an appeal by the innkeepers, Peter and Hazelmary Bull, in their conviction of telling [...]

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In an emotional ceremony Monday (Feb. 13), Gov. Chris Gregoire signed legislation that makes Washington the seventh state to legalize gay marriage. “Today is a day that historians will mark as a milestone for equal rights,” she said to a hailing crowd at the state Capitol in Olympia. The House passed the bill with a [...]

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President Obama’s effort to accommodate the Catholic Church by altering his administration’s rule on birth control coverage has not appeased the church, congressional Republicans or GOP candidates trying to take his job next year. Their continued anger over a requirement that nearly all employers offer free insurance coverage for contraception — even with changes Obama [...]

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A prominent sex abuse lawyer has dropped a high-stakes lawsuit that sought to hold Pope Benedict XVI and other top church officials responsible for a clergy sexual abuse case. The Vatican’s U.S. attorney, Jeffrey S. Lena, welcomed the decision to drop the suit on Friday (Feb. 10), saying the case was “held together by no [...]

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