Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Sue Meta Over Church Shooting
Oct 6 2025 // The US Supreme Court declined a chance to open social media companies to lawsuits over content recommended by their algorithms, turning away an appeal that accused Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook of radicalizing a man...
Vermont Diocese Struggles With Legal Costs After Bankruptcy, Abuse Settlements
Oct 2 2025 // A year after seeking to reorganize its depleting finances in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, the Vermont Roman Catholic Diocese is struggling to cover about $1.5 million and counting in related legal bills. Under federal law, an...
Georgia Church Leaders Charged With Buying Homes With False Documents
Sep 15 2025 // Leaders of a Georgia-based church with congregations in five states have been charged by federal prosecutors with swindling millions of dollars in veterans benefits from parishioners serving in the military. An indictment...
Bankruptcy Judge Rules Church Insurers Lack Standing to Contest Abuse Claims
Sep 10 2025 // Insurers that have not indicated they will pay claims from sexual abuse survivors currently have no standing to contest certain claims as they are being considered, a federal bankruptcy judge recently ruled in a case...
Judge Approves Chapter 11 Plan for Rochester Diocese With $246M Claims Fund
Sep 8 2025 // A federal bankruptcy judge on Friday signed off on a $246 million fund to pay abuse claims as part of the Catholic Diocese of Rochester’s Chapter 11 reorganization plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Having witnessed six...
Judge to Approve Syracuse Diocese’s $176M Bankruptcy Plan
Aug 28 2025 // The Catholic Diocese of Syracuse reports that the federal judge overseeing its bankruptcy proceedings has indicated she will approve the latest reorganization plan with a $176 million fund to pay sexual abuse...
Trenton Diocese Withdraws Lawsuit Against Insurers Over Sex Abuse Coverage
Aug 8 2025 // The Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey has voluntarily withdrawn its lawsuit against four liability insurers over coverage for sexual abuse claims brought against the diocese under the New Jersey Child Victims...
CNA’s $120M Contribution Finalizes Rochester Diocese Claims Fund
Aug 1 2025 // The Catholic Diocese of Rochester, its insurers, and survivors of clergy sexual abuse have agreed on a $246 million fund to pay abuse claims as part of the diocese’s Chapter 11 plan to emerge from bankruptcy. The...
11th Circuit Upholds $1.75M Verdict Against Church Mutual on Georgia Roof Claim
Jul 23 2025 // Central Baptist Church of Albany, Georgia, suffered roof damage during a hailstorm in 2014. Its insurance carrier, Church Mutual Insurance, determined that the roof had only minor damage that could be repaired. It offered...
New Jersey High Court Allows Clergy Sex Abuse Grand Jury Opposed by Diocese
Jun 19 2025 // New Jersey can have a grand jury examine allegations of clergy sexually abusing children, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Monday, after a Catholic diocese that had tried for years to block such proceedings recently...
Religious Organizations Get New Chance for Exemption From New York Abortion Rule
Jun 18 2025 // The Supreme Court on Monday ordered a New York court to take a new look at whether some religious organizations should be excluded from a state regulation requiring health insurance plans to cover abortions. The justices...
Man Who Burned Down a Missouri Church Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $7M
May 22 2025 // A man who admitted in federal court to setting the fire that destroyed an eastern Missouri church has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison and ordered to pay the church nearly $7 million. The sentence for...
Bankruptcy Judge Approves Norwich Diocese Plan With $31 Million for Abuse Survivors
May 22 2025 // A federal bankruptcy judge in Connecticut has approved a plan involving the Catholic Diocese of Norwich that includes a $31 million fund to compensate victims of sexual abuse by clergy. The plan seeks to provide recovery...
NJ Diocese Will No Longer Oppose Investigation Into Sexual Abuse Allegations
May 9 2025 // The Catholic bishop of a New Jersey diocese said he would no longer oppose a state grand jury investigation of clergy sexual abuse that the church has been fighting behind closed doors in court for years. It’s not...
Court Questions NJ Diocese’s Bid to Block Grand Jury on Clergy Sex Abuse
May 1 2025 // Members of New Jersey’s Supreme Court sounded skeptical at times Monday about the effort of a Catholic diocese to stop the state from empaneling a grand jury to investigate clergy sexual abuse allegations. The high...
Church Agency Denied Exemption for Nixing Married Gay Employee’s Insurance
Apr 30 2025 // Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has been found to have violated Maryland’s employment anti-discrimination law when it discriminated against an employee because of his sexual orientation. U.S. District Judge Julie...
Historic Memphis Church a Total Loss After Late-Night Fire
Apr 29 2025 // A Memphis church known as a rallying spot in the Civil Rights Movement suffered major damage in a fire that broke out early Monday morning. The 130-year-old Clayborn Temple, in downtown Memphis, is considered a total loss,...
Judge Nixes Gender Bias Claim by Woman Denied Job as Top Pastor of Black Church
Apr 8 2025 // A federal judge has dismissed a gender discrimination lawsuit filed by a professor and minister who lost her bid to become the first woman to serve as senior pastor of New York City’s prominent Abyssinian Baptist...
Public Adjuster Pleads Guilty to Another Scam, This One on a Church in Georgia
Mar 31 2025 // A notorious public adjuster, already in prison for scamming Louisiana and Texas residents out of insurance proceeds, last week pleaded guilty to defrauding Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Co. and a Georgia church out of...
AM Best Affirms Financial Strength Rating of Church Mutual
Mar 6 2025 // AM Best has affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings of “a” (Excellent) of Church Mutual Insurance Company, S.I. The outlook assigned to these Credit...
