Associated Press

Ukraine's parliament voted overwhelmingly Oct. 19 to advance legislation seen as effectively banning the Ukrainian Orthodox Church over its ties to Moscow, despite the church's insistence that it is fully independent and supportive of Ukraine's fight against Russian invaders.

Two Vatican trials are coming to a head this week and posing uncomfortable questions for the Holy See, given they both underscore Pope Francis' power as an absolute monarch and the legal, financial and reputational problems that can arise when he wields it.

A fatal stabbing in Illinois, a gun pointed at protesters in Pennsylvania, vandalism at synagogues and harassment of staff at a Palestinian restaurant all are raising fears that the war between Israel and Hamas is sparking violence in the United States.

A Benedictine monk has been suspended from ministry after the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore recently became aware of a payment he made several years ago to settle sexual harassment allegations.

Citing the clerical abuse scandal, and Catholic leaders' opposition to abortion and derision for LGBTQ+ rights, many Poles are questioning their relationship with the church and its closeness to the government.

Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California will be allowed to turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing under a new law aimed at combating the ongoing homeless crisis.

Most Latin Americans are Christian, and Catholicism remains the dominant religion; about two-thirds of Argentina's 45 million people identify as Catholic. But the church's influence has waned. There's discontent following clergy sex abuse scandals and opposition to the church's stances against abortion and LGBTQ rights.

The decadeslong rise of the nones — a diverse, hard-to-summarize group — is one of the most talked about phenomena in U.S. religion. They are reshaping America's religious landscape as we know it.

Thirty percent of Americans don't identify with a religious group — but not all of them are atheists or agnostics. In fact, 43% of the group known as the "nones" say they believe in God, according to a new poll.

Clergy sexual abuse survivors on Oct. 2 unveiled a proposed new church law calling for the permanent removal of abusive priests and superiors who covered for them, as they stepped up their outrage over Pope Francis' choice to head the Vatican office that investigates sex crimes.

A few years ago, Pope Francis told the head of the main Vatican-backed Catholic women's organization to be "brave" in pushing for change for women in the Catholic Church.

Five conservative cardinals from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas have challenged Pope Francis to affirm current Catholic teaching on homosexuality and women's ordination ahead of a big Vatican meeting where such hot-button issues are up for debate.

Maryland’s attorney general released some previously redacted names in its staggering report on child sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore on Sept. 26, but the names of five Catholic Church leaders remained redacted amid ongoing appeals, prompting criticism of the church by victims’ advocates.

The Vatican's top diplomat urged world leaders Sept. 26 to put a pause on lethal autonomous weapons systems for long enough to negotiate an agreement on them, joining a series of U.N. General Assembly speakers who have expressed concern about various aspects of artificial intelligence.

A prominent Belgian bishop on Sept. 27 criticized the Vatican for failing to defrock a former bishop who admitted sexually abusing children, saying it had led to massive frustration with the highest Roman Catholic authorities.

A statue of a deceased German cardinal was removed from its perch outside Essen Cathedral in western Germany on Sept. 25, days after allegations of sexual abuse decades ago became public.

The Vatican had shared with police findings of an internal investigation of a former Australian bishop over child sex abuse allegations and the church would fully cooperate with criminal investigators, a cleric said on Sept. 22.

Several Catholic priests held a ceremony blessing same-sex couples outside Cologne Cathedral on the night of Sept. 20 in a protest against the city’s conservative archbishop, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.