Latest Church Headlines
All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Coronavirus Update: On Decline in China But of Rising Concern in South Korea, Italy, Iran
Feb 25 2020 // Iran’s coronavirus death toll rose to 16 on Tuesday, the most outside China, heightening its international isolation as dozens of worst-hit nations from South Korea to Italy accelerated emergency measures to curb the...
Facing Hundreds of Abuse Claims, Boy Scouts of America Files for Bankruptcy
Feb 18 2020 // The Boy Scouts of America said on Tuesday it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy amid a flood of lawsuits over allegations of child sexual abuse stretching back decades. The bankruptcy is not expected to affect the...
Woman Sues Idaho Church After Church Van Crashes in Oregon
Feb 13 2020 // A young woman from Idaho who sustained a traumatic brain injury in a 2018 van crash while traveling to a Christian conference in Portland, Ore. with her youth group is suing the church and the youth pastor who was driving...
Man Pleads Guilty to Burning African American Churches in Louisiana
Feb 12 2020 // The aspiring ‘black metal’ musician who was arrested in a series of fires set at African American churches in Louisiana last spring pleaded guilty to federal and state criminal charges. The U.S....
Driver Dies, Passengers Injured in Ohio Church Bus Crash
Feb 4 2020 // A church bus and an SUV crashed on Feb. 2 in Ohio, and the bus driver died, the State Highway Patrol said. The patrol’s Lebanon post reported the crash occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Dixie Highway in Warren...
New Laws Spur Insurers to Reserve for Potential Child Sex-Abuse Claims
Jan 24 2020 // Travelers Companies Inc. has set aside a “modest” amount of additional money to cover its possible exposure to child sex-abuse claims, the insurer’s finance chief, Daniel Frey, told analysts during an...
Wyoming Firm Settles Religious Discrimination Suit
Jan 23 2020 // A Wyoming company has settled a federal lawsuit by a former employee who claimed she was pressured to take Scientology courses as a condition of her employment. Julie A. Rohrbacher filed the lawsuit in 2018 against Teton...
Ex-Church Administrator in Pennsylvania Gets 10 to 20 Years in Theft Case
Jan 21 2020 // A former western Pennsylvania church administrator has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in the theft of $1.2 million that prosecutors said he and his wife used for vacations, sports tickets and other personal expenses. An...
Alabama Police Say ‘Batman’ Bandit Stealing from Churches
Jan 16 2020 // Police in Alabama are looking for a man who disguised himself as Batman while stealing musical instruments from churches. A burglary happened on Dec. 11 at King’s Way Church in Irondale, AL.Com reported. The caped...
Church Mutual’s Conversion to a Mutual Holding Company Finalized
Jan 6 2020 // Merrill, Wisconsin-based Church Mutual’s conversion of its corporate structure to a mutual holding company became effective Jan. 1, 2020. According to the company, the move provides the organization more flexibility...
Vatican Tribunal Processes ‘Tsunami’ of Clergy Sex Abuse Complaints
Dec 24 2019 // The Vatican office responsible for processing clergy sex abuse complaints saw a record 1,000 cases reported from around the world this year – and still some regions that haven’t reported any allegations at all. The...
4 Dead After Storms Leave ‘Trail of Destruction’ Across the South
Dec 19 2019 // A swarm of tornadoes and storms that left a trail of destruction across the Southeast killed four people, injured at least a dozen more and left victims to bundle up against the cold as they picked up pieces of their homes...
4 Dead, Including 1 in Louisiana, as Twisters, Storms Batter the South
Dec 18 2019 // A swarm of tornadoes and storms that left a trail of destruction across the Southeast killed four people, injured a dozen more and left victims to bundle up against the cold as they picked up pieces of their homes...
Catholic Church Abuse Allegations Being Raised in Japan
Dec 16 2019 // During Pope Francis’ recent visit to Japan, Harumi Suzuki stood where his motorcade passed by holding a sign that read: “I am a survivor.” Katsumi Takenaka stood at another spot, on another day, holding...
Under New State Laws, Catholic Church Could See New Wave of Abuse Suits
Dec 4 2019 // A wave of new laws in 15 states that allow people to make claims of sexual abuse going back decades could bring a deluge of lawsuits against the Roman Catholic Church that could surpass anything seen so far in its clergy...
West Virginia Diocese Seeks $792K from Disgraced Bishop
Dec 3 2019 // West Virginia’s Roman Catholic diocese said last week that it wants a former bishop to pay it more than three-quarters of a million dollars after a series of alleged sexual and financial scandals. Diocese of...
Sexual Abuse Victims Claim Catholic Church Pressured Them Into Unfair Settlements
Nov 25 2019 // Two impoverished Mississippi men who say they were sexually assaulted by Franciscan missionaries filed a federal lawsuit Thursday claiming that Catholic officials pressured them into signing settlements that paid them...
West Virginia Judge Asks State Supreme Court to Decide Fate of Church Abuse Case
Nov 18 2019 // A West Virginia judge is looking to the state Supreme Court for guidance after dismissing a case that alleges a Catholic diocese and its former bishop knowingly employed pedophiles. Wood County Circuit Court Judge J.D....
Ohio’s Suracy Insurance Launches Suracy Faith with Focus on Religious Organizations
Nov 4 2019 // Solon, Ohio-based Suracy Insurance Agency Inc. (formerly AmVenture Insurance Agency Inc.) has launched a sub-brand, Suracy Faith. Suracy Faith focuses on providing insurance solutions for churches and other religious...
Feds Say Retailer Broke Law by Selling Rifle Used in Texas Church Attack
Oct 18 2019 // Federal prosecutors say a sporting goods retailer violated the law by selling an AR-15-style rifle and large capacity magazine to a man who used them to kill more than two dozen worshippers at a Texas church. The...
