Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a California Democrat dismayed by the House vote over the weekend to prohibit taxpayer subsidies for insurance policies that cover abortion in the healthcare overhaul, is saying maybe the IRS should investigate the tax-exempt status of the Catholic Church following its lobbying effort for the restriction. “I expect political hardball on any... Continue Reading

By Deborah Potter, Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly LEIPZIG, Germany — St. Nikolai Evangelical Lutheran Church hasn’t changed much since the 16th century. Bach once played the organ here and the music remains alluring, but it is the church’s more recent history in the last days of the Cold War and its role in the fall... Continue Reading

Kimberly Ladouceur The Iranian Government passed a ruling on October 31 that the Central Assemblies of God Church in Tehran was to shut its doors for Friday services as they are no longer allowed to take place. This termination of services is being seen as a way of ‘intimidating’ Christians, according to one source, and... Continue Reading

The EPC Interim Committee on Women Teaching Elders held its initial meeting on Thursday, November 5, at Second Presbyterian Church, Memphis, Tennessee. The 29th General Assembly, which elected this Interim Committee, instructed them to “explore ways to include those pastors and churches with conflicting positions on Women Teaching Elders in the presbyteries of the EPC.”... Continue Reading

By Cindy Wooden The Vatican said it experienced “surprise and sorrow” when a European court ruled that the crucifixes hanging in Italian public schools violate religious freedom. The European Court of Human Rights ruled Nov. 3 that the crucifixes hanging in every public classroom in Italy were “a violation of the freedom of parents to... Continue Reading

The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission — the highest court in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) — has declined in two new rulings involving controversial cases to take on some of the central questions involving departures of conscience from the denomination’s ordination standards. The new rulings, both issued Nov. 2, come in cases involving Lisa Larges,... Continue Reading

An English Gothic landmark Tampa (FL) church built in the 1920s has been resurrected as the first permanent home of Holy Trinity Presbyterian (PCA), ending a decade-long quest. The exterior of the impressive red-brick building is relatively unchanged, but improvements within give a fresh look to the 1927 structure. “It’s come a long way,” Pastor... Continue Reading

Brazil’s main commercial center, Sao Paulo, came to a standstill on Thursday, when it became the site of the biggest annual Christian movement in the nation. The May 26th ‘March for Jesus’ brought together over two million people, who marched along a pre-planned, one-mile route beginning at 10 a.m. They started near the University of... Continue Reading

A top Vatican official has joined other global Christian leaders in the eastern German town where Martin Luther broke with the papacy, at a tree-planting ceremony that looks to closer ties on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation in 2017. The ceremony took place in Wittenberg, the German town known as “Lutherstadt”, 492 years after... Continue Reading

Pope Benedict XVI will meet with the leader of the Church of England, next month in his first encounter since the Catholic Church moved to make it easier for disenchanted Anglicans to convert to Catholicism, a Vatican spokesman said Friday. Archbishop Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was already due to visit Rome in November... Continue Reading