Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
‘Devil’s Tooth Exorcism’ Results in $3.7M Claim Against Tennessee Church
Feb 26 2013 // A Tennessee pastor said he cast out a parishioner’s demon, but a lawsuit contends that only the plaintiff’s tooth was exorcised. According to The Mountain Press, Andrew Byrd filed a $3.7 million lawsuit against...
Fired Coach Sues Northern California Diocese
Feb 22 2013 // A former Catholic high school coach is suing the Diocese of Sacramento in Northern California claiming he was fired in retaliation for reporting sexual hazing by his players. Officials at Vallejo’s St. Patrick-St....
Former Oregon Resident Files $16M Sex-Abuse Suit Against Church
Feb 19 2013 // A 34-year-old woman who was raised near Portland, Ore. has filed a $16 million lawsuit, alleging she was the victim of sexual abuse as a teenager. The Oregonian newspaper reported that Cristie Prasnikar, who now lives out...
Catholic Bishops Urge Birth Control Reprieve in Fiscal Bills
Feb 18 2013 // U.S. Roman Catholic bishops stepped up their battle against President Obama’s contraceptives policy on Friday by urging Congress to use its fiscal debate to free religious employers from a mandate requiring insurance...
Catholic Bishops Reject Obama Compromise on Contraception Coverage
Feb 8 2013 // U.S. Roman Catholic bishops on Thursday rejected the Obama Administration’s latest bid for compromise over a hotly disputed health policy that requires employees at religiously affiliated institutions to have access...
Obama Offers Compromise on Birth Control Insurance Coverage
Feb 4 2013 // The Obama administration on Friday sought to settle a dispute with religious leaders over whether employees at faith-affiliated universities, hospitals and other institutions should have access to health insurance coverage...
Florida Marks I-75 Crash Anniversary; Tragedy Triggers Safety Measures, Lawsuits
Jan 29 2013 // The pre-dawn traffic moved fast on Interstate 75 through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park outside Gainesville. The highway had been closed for hours after thick fog combined with smoke from a nearby wildfire reduced...
Lawsuits Against Birth Control Benefit Appear Supreme Court Bound
Jan 28 2013 // The legal challenges over religious freedom and the birth control coverage requirement in President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul appear to be moving toward the U.S. Supreme Court. Faith-affiliated charities,...
Arkansas Lawmakers Advance Guns in Church Bill Minus Insurance Provision
Jan 25 2013 // An Arkansas Senate panel advanced a proposal this week to allow concealed handguns in churches, but rejected an amendment to require places of worship to carry more insurance if firearms are permitted. A House committee...
Catholic Hospital Claims Fetus Not Person in Colorado Malpractice Defense
Jan 25 2013 // Three Colorado bishops said on Thursday they will review a Catholic Church hospital’s defense of a lawsuit that argues fetuses do not have legal status – apparently contradicting the Church’s teaching on...
Insurance Settlement Dispute Delays Rebuilding of Massachusetts School
Jan 15 2013 // An insurance settlement dispute is delaying the rebuilding of a Roman Catholic school in Springfield, Mass., that was damaged by a tornado in June 2011. The Republican of Springfield reports the Diocese of Springfield and...
Alabama Officials Assessing Christmas Day Storm Damage
Dec 27 2012 // Authorities were getting a clearer picture of the damage done by storms in Alabama as daylight revealed the extent of the destruction. In Mobile’s downtown area, a school, church and several homes were damaged by a...
Mediation In Montana Church Abuse Lawsuits Set For April
Dec 6 2012 // Attorneys for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena, a Montana order of nuns and hundreds of alleged sex-abuse victims said this week they will try to hammer out a settlement during a mediation conference in April,...
Hobby Lobby Appeals Morning-After Pill Decision
Nov 27 2012 // Hobby Lobby Stores Inc. is asking a federal appeals court to block part of the federal health care law that requires the Christian family-owned arts and crafts company to provide insurance coverage for emergency...
Snag In Montana Church Abuse Lawsuit Negotiations Over Policy Dispute
Nov 26 2012 // Settlement negotiations between hundreds of alleged sex abuse victims and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena may have hit a snag with the church’s insurers refusing to cover the claims. The insurers and the diocese...
Oklahoma Judge: Hobby Lobby Must Offer Morning-After Pill
Nov 21 2012 // A federal judge has rejected Oklahoma-based Hobby Lobby Stores Inc.’s request to block part of the federal health care overhaul that requires the arts and craft supply company to provide insurance coverage for the...
New Mexico Man Settles Sex Abuse Suit Against Catholic Church
Nov 19 2012 // An Albuquerque, N.M. man has settled a suit he filed against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and a Catholic ministry group that helps troubled priests over molestation he claims he suffered at the hands of a priest beginning...
Lawsuit Filed in Oklahoma over Scientology-Linked Center Death
Oct 26 2012 // The mother of a Claremore man found dead last year at an eastern Oklahoma drug rehab center with ties to the Church of Scientology filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Wednesday against the facility, alleging staff was...
How Tornado Has Changed a Kentucky Town
Sep 6 2012 // Eddie and Sherri Granger’s new life running an antique store in West Liberty, Ky., collapsed in a heap of debris when a tornado demolished their nearly century-old building while tearing through this eastern Kentucky...
Glatfelter Religious Practice Adds New Large Account Market, Names President
Aug 22 2012 // Glatfelter Program Managers (GPM), a business unit dedicated to Glatfelter Insurance Group’s program business, has announced Shawn T. Yingling has joined the company as president of Glatfelter Religious...
