LONDON (RNS) One of the prominent figures in the revived ancient priesthood of Druidism in Britain has been charged with defrauding the government of 40,000 pounds (about $25,000) in welfare payments over the past eight years. Druid Terry Dobney, the self-styled “Keeper of the Stones” at the nation’s ages-old monument at Stonehenge, is best known…

CLEVELAND (RNS) In days long gone, Roman Catholic priests regularly made deathbed house calls, even in the middle of the night with little notice, to pray over the dying and anoint them with holy oils. The candlelight ritual, popularly known as last rites, continues in hospitals, nursing homes, hospice houses and private homes. But it…

(RNS) Neither snow nor rain nor Saturday Sabbaths should keep a Missouri mailman from his appointed rounds, a federal appeals court has ruled. Seventh-day Adventist Hosea Harrell argued he was the victim of religious discrimination when the U.S. Postal Service refused to give him Saturdays off. Harrell took the days off anyway and was fired…

WASHINGTON (RNS) The Supreme Court on Monday (April 4) rejected a challenge to an Arizona school tuition credit program critics contend was principally benefiting religious institutions. The 5-4 decision, combined with a 2007 ruling rejecting a similar challenge to the Bush administration’s faith-based office, seems to solidify the court’s skepticism toward attempts to derail government…

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