Lawyer in church sex-abuse case locked in bitter divorce battle

Ray Boucher walked out of a downtown Los Angeles courthouse six years ago the envy of the legal field. As the lead attorney in the...

Vatican management a key issue at conclave

VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholic cardinals gathering here to elect the next pope have focused with unusual intensity on the management of...

Roman Catholic Church feels Europe slipping from its hands

VATICAN CITY — The timing said it all.

The men who might be pope

VATICAN CITY — With the terrifying grandeur of Michelangelo's "Last Judgment" looming over them, senior leaders of the Roman...

Conservative brand of Catholicism thrives in Africa

KAMPALA, Uganda — On Sunday mornings, worshipers arrive two hours early to wait in line for one of 200 seats in the Missionaries of...

Repelled by the worst in the Church, yet held by the best

The first time I visited the downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, I found myself in a side chapel that Cardinal Roger Mahony had...

Youth pastor accused of raping girls he met through church work

A Carpinteria youth pastor is accused of raping two teenage girls he met through his church work, authorities said Thursday.

As a new pope is chosen, Latin America hopes for more sway

MEXICO CITY — They represent the region with more Roman Catholics than any other. And their to-do list for the next pope is a long...

Sex abuse allegations surround L.A. Buddhist teacher

At 19, Shari Young was in search of enlightenment. She thought she had found it at the Cimarron Zen Center (now known as Rinzai-ji) in...

Pope Benedict faced worldwide challenges

In announcing his decision to resign the papacy, Benedict XVI said Monday that he no longer had the energy to confront the global challenges...

Mahony voting for a new pope rankles some Catholics

Nearly two weeks ago, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced he had removed Cardinal Roger Mahony from all public duties amid...

Cardinal Mahony used cemetery money to pay sex abuse settlement

Pressed to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony turned to one group of...

Former L.A. church leader fired from post at San Francisco church

The Rev. John J. Hunter, who last fall was abruptly reassigned from First African Methodist Episcopal Church, the oldest black church in Los...

Judges split over birth control coverage and religious liberty

WASHINGTON — Judges across the country are increasingly split over whether private employers and their companies can cite their...

Tunisia ruling party rejects prime minister's call for new Cabinet

TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisia's Islamist-led government Thursday rejected a proposal by its prime minister to form a new Cabinet amid...

At India's Maha Kumbh Mela festival, holy smoke, dust and noise!

ALLAHABAD, India — It's dusk, and the sun's rays succumb to the twinkle of amber streetlights at the sacred confluence of the Ganges...

A sudden fall for Cardinal Mahony's former right-hand man

SANTA BARBARA — When he took office in 1985, Roger M. Mahony set about modernizing the operations of the Los Angeles Archdiocese. He...

L.A.-area priests try to make sense of a tumultuous week

Msgr. Robert J. Gallagher stood before parishioners at St. Charles Borromeo Church on Sunday, searching for the right words to reassure them...

Mahony defends actions in abuse cases

Responding to a public rebuke by his successor, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony insisted that he tried his best to deal with the priest molestation...

AME church denies minister's plea

The judicial body of the African Methodist Episcopal church has denied the petition of the Rev. John J. Hunter, former leader of First AME...