WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a murder case in which a jury foreman read passages of the Bible to hold-out jurors who subsequently voted to impose the death penalty. Without comment, the justices declined to consider whether the jury foreman’s conduct violated the rights of Jimmie Lucero, an Amarillo, Texas,…

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican said Friday that no bishops from mainland China will be attending a worldwide meeting of prelates in Rome next week – a clear sign there has been no breakthrough in the Vatican’s efforts to improve relations with Beijing. Officials say 253 bishops will attend the meeting that will discuss the…

PHILADELPHIA – An Episcopal bishop has been defrocked after a church panel found him guilty of covering up his brother’s sexual assaults of a teenage girl in the 1970s. Charles E. Bennison Jr., 64, deserved to be ousted from the clergy because of his “very significant failures to fulfill his responsibilities” and “a fundamental lack…

OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) A couple who tried to heal their gravely ill son with prayer surrendered to authorities on Thursday (Oct. 2), a day after they were indicted by a grand jury on charges of criminally negligent homicide. The couple, Jeffrey Dean Beagley, 50, and Marci Rae Beagley, 46, could not be reached for…

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