Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge Rules that Priest Files Must be Released
Feb 8 2007 // A judge ordered the Roman Catholic Church to release insurance records and confidential files related to a notorious priest who had been convicted of molestation before being transferred to California. Superior Court Judge...
Insurer to investigate Vermont diocese’s sex abuse
Jan 28 2007 // An insurance company for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont wants to investigate the church’s conduct in 27 cases of alleged child sex abuse by a former priest before paying the costs of litigation...
Insurers gain access to Mass. diocese abuse files
Jan 28 2007 // A judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Mass. to release thousands of pages of documents in a dispute between the church and seven of its insurance carriers over settlements with clergy sex abuse...
Insurer to Investigate Vermont Diocese’s Handling of Priest Sex Abuse
Jan 17 2007 // An insurance company for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington wants to investigate the church’s conduct in 27 cases of alleged child sex abuse by a former priest before paying the costs of litigation associated...
Police Increase Patrols as Fires Hit 2 Churches in N.C.
Jan 15 2007 // Police increased their patrols of churches across the city after fires broke out at two Baptist churches during the night and a break-in was discovered at a third — all within an hour. “We’re going to be...
Mass. Diocese Ordered to Release Sex Abuse Documents to Insurers
Jan 12 2007 // A judge has ordered the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, Mass. to release thousands of pages of documents in a dispute between the church and seven of its insurance carriers over settlements with clergy sex abuse...
Oregon Archdiocese reorganization plan calls for $75 million settlement
Jan 8 2007 // Settling nearly 170 claims of priest sex abuse would cost the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., about $75 million under a reorganization plan. The plan represents the first bankruptcy in the nation filed by a...
Oregon Archdiocese reorganization plan calls for $75 million settlement
Jan 7 2007 // Settling nearly 170 claims of priest sex abuse would cost the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, Ore., about $75 million under a reorganization plan proposed to end. The plan represents the first bankruptcy in the...
Conn. Catholic Diocese Appeals Court Order Opening Sex Abuse Files
Dec 28 2006 // The Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn. has appealed a Superior Court judge’s ruling that thousands of pages of court files involving lawsuits against priests accused of sexual abuse be made public. The case could return to...
It Figures
Dec 25 2006 // 8% The drop in premiums sought by the largest medical malpractice insurer in Maryland for next year in what would be its first rate reduction since at least 1992. The potential rate cut by Medical Mutual Liability...
Oregon Archdiocese Reorganization Plan Calls for $75 Million Settlement
Dec 20 2006 // Settling nearly 170 claims of priest sex abuse would cost the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland about $75 million under a reorganization plan proposed to end the first bankruptcy in the nation filed by a...
Insurer for Orthodox Church in Texas Settles Abuse Claim
Dec 18 2006 // The insurance company for the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia has settled a claim by a man who says he was abused as a teenager by monks at a monastery in Blanco, Texas. The settlement agreement, which included a...
Insurers Seek Springfield, Mass. Church Documents on Sex Abuse
Dec 15 2006 // A judge is weighing whether to order the release of thousands of pages of Springfield (Mass.) Diocese documents in a dispute between the church and seven of its insurance carriers over settlements with clergy sex abuse...
Portland Archdiocese, Sex Abuse Claimants Agree to Settle
Dec 15 2006 // Nearly all the some 170 people claiming they were sexually abused by priests who once worked in Western Oregon have agreed to settle their lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland, a federal judge who...
Fire at 100-Year Old Georgia Church Deemed Arson
Nov 29 2006 // A fire that destroyed the sanctuary of a 100-year-old church in Statesboro, Georgia was ruled an arson, Insurance and Fire Commissioner John Oxendine said. Authorities have arrested a suspect after the fire engulfed the...
Robert Coates Jr. of Ingham, Coates and Payne Dies
Nov 16 2006 // Robert E. Coates Jr., an insurance broker in Pasadena, Calif., for more than 50 years and resident of La Canada Flintridge died Saturday, Nov. 4. A former blimp pilot for the Navy, he joined Jimmy Ingham and Gleeson...
Kentucky Churchgoers: Medi-Share Not an Insurance Program
Oct 30 2006 // A Christian cost-sharing ministry set up to help cover medical costs for churchgoers is not an insurance program and doesn’t claim to be, the head of the American Evangelical Association testified last week. E. John...
N.Y. Court: Religious Groups’ Medical Plans Must Cover Contraceptives
Oct 24 2006 // Catholic and other religious social service groups must provide contraceptive coverage through their workplace-sponsored medical insurance programs even if they consider contraception a sin, according to a ruling by New...
Jury Deadlocks in S.C. Church Arson Case Involving Former Pastor
Oct 16 2006 // A mistrial has been declared in South Carolina in the case of a former pastor accused of trying to burn down his own Summerville church. A Dorchester County jury deliberated Harold E. Hunter’s fate for nearly 10...
Iowa Diocese Files for Bankruptcy over Sex Abuse Cases
Oct 13 2006 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this week, the fourth diocese in the nation to seek financial protection to deal with priest sex abuse cases. Bishop William Franklin said the diocese...
