Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Texas Church Bus Crash Injures 16, Including 13 Children
Dec 13 2022 // HOUSTON (AP) – Sixteen people, including 13 children, were injured on Sunday after a small church bus overturned near a Houston area apartment, according to authorities. The bus, belonging to a Baptist church, rolled...
Maine Catholic Church Hit With More Sex Abuse Claims Under Revised Law
Dec 12 2022 // Four people in Maine have filed lawsuits with claims that they were sexually abused by Catholic priests as children. Three men sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland on Thursday in Cumberland County Superior Court....
Carbon Monoxide Leak at Chicago Church Sends 12 to Hospitals
Dec 6 2022 // CHICAGO (AP) – Twelve people were hospitalized after a carbon monoxide leak at a church on Chicago’s South Side, fire officials said. The Chicago Fire Department said that just after 1 p.m. it was called to the New...
Rochester Diocese $55M Sex Abuse Settlement Does Not Include Insurance Amount
Nov 8 2022 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester will pay $55 million to survivors of sexual abuse committed by clergy members under a settlement announced by Rochester Bishop Salvatore Matano last week. The $55 million from the...
Buffalo Diocese Agrees to Clergy Oversight Plan as Part of Abuse Settlement With State
Oct 27 2022 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has agreed to strengthen its oversight of clergy accused of sexual misconduct to settle a lawsuit brought by New York’s attorney general alleging the church mishandled abuse...
Indiana Court Sides With Catholic Diocese in Teacher Dismissal
Sep 19 2022 // The Indiana Supreme Court ruled recently that religious freedom rights protect the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis from being sued by a teacher who was fired from his job at a Catholic high school for being in a...
Indiana Court Sides With Catholic Diocese in Teacher Dismissal
Sep 6 2022 // The Indiana Supreme Court ruled last week that religious freedom rights protect the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis from being sued by a teacher who was fired from his job at a Catholic high school for being in...
Massachusetts Court Denies Charitable Immunity, Allows Abuse Case Against Diocese
Aug 1 2022 // A lawsuit brought by a former altar boy who alleges he was sexually abused as a child in the 1960s by a now-deceased Roman Catholic bishop and other clergy can proceed, the highest court in Massachusetts said in a decision...
Three Charged in Arson of Historic West Virginia Church
Jul 15 2022 // Three people have been arrested in connection with a fire that destroyed a historic church in West Virginia, state police said. Braxton Allan Miller, 18, of Charleston; James Dean Elmore, 19, of Beckley; and a juvenile boy...
Officials Investigating Recent Vandalism, Fires at Maryland Churches
Jul 12 2022 // Investigations are underway into several weekend incidents of apparent arson and vandalism at churches in Maryland, authorities said. Montgomery County authorities said the incidents took place at three churches of...
Rochester Diocese, Insurers Plan for January Hearing on $147M Sexual Abuse Settlement
Jun 30 2022 // Insurers and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester have agreed on a schedule for discovery and a bankruptcy court trial regarding a proposed $147 million settlement to cover sex abuse claims against the church. The...
Fire at North Dakota Historic Church Deemed Suspicious
Jun 22 2022 // A fire last week at one of southeastern North Dakota’s oldest churches is being investigated as “suspicious,” authorities said. The blaze at Maple Sheyenne Lutheran Church near Harwood was reported about...
Maine Catholic Diocese Sued Under Abuse Law Change It Opposed
Jun 20 2022 // The first lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland since Maine took away a limitation on claims of child sexual abuse were filed last week. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed a law last year that allowed...
Rochester Diocese Offers $147M to Settle Sexual Abuse Claims
May 24 2022 // The Diocese of Rochester, New York, and its insurers have submitted a proposal to bankruptcy court to settle 471 sexual abuse claims against them for $147 million. The settlement includes $107,750,000 from insurers and...
3 Louisiana Black Churches Rebuilding After 2019 Arson
Apr 20 2022 // Three years after an arsonist torched three small Black Baptist churches in rural Louisiana, rebuilding is well under way. Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Opelousas is months from reopening, with visible progress at St....
New Jersey Diocese Reaches $87.5M Settlement with Sex Abuse Claimants
Apr 20 2022 // The Catholic Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, and the committee representing about 300 survivors of clergy sexual abuse have reached an $87.5 million settlement that will establish a trust to compensate the survivors. The...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires UK’s Churchills International Consulting
Apr 12 2022 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Nottingham, England-based Churchills International Consulting. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1974, Churchills International Consulting...
Louisiana Church Sues Insurer For Alleged Inadequate Storm Damage Coverage
Apr 6 2022 // A Louisiana church has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that its insurer failed to adequately cover millions of dollars in property damage resulting from two devastating weather events last year, including Hurricane...
Many Faith Leaders, Denominations Wary of Religious Exemptions for Vaccine
Feb 17 2022 // By the thousands, Americans have been seeking religious exemptions in order to circumvent COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but generally they are doing so without the encouragement of major denominations and prominent religious...
Fewer Crashes After Utah Sets Nation’s Strictest DUI Law, Study Shows
Feb 16 2022 // Traffic deaths decreased in Utah after the state enacted the strictest drunken driving laws in the nation five years ago, new research published by a U.S. government agency shows. The findings, which pertain to fatalities...
