All the headlines from our Church Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Jul 3 2008 // The Texas Supreme Court threw out a jury award for injuries a 17-year-old girl suffered in an exorcism conducted by members of her old church, ruling that the case unconstitutionally entangled the court in religious...
Jun 23 2008 // Many Roman Catholics believe that the worst of the clergy sex abuse scandal is over. But in the Diocese of Burlington, it’s deepening.The case of one cleric, assigned to Vermont parishes in the 1970s despite warnings...
Jun 17 2008 // Fire officials in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania say a blaze did an estimated $1 million damage to a church in Caernarvon Township early Sunday.Flames were shooting from the roof of the south wing of Conestoga Mennonite...
May 27 2008 // A West Virginia teenager suing a Roman Catholic Diocese claiming he was sexually abused has added a service organization to his lawsuit, his lawyer says.The Clarksburg teen, who was not identified in court papers, is...
May 22 2008 // Vermont’s top Roman Catholic clergyman has written to parishioners around the state, apologizing to the victim in a priest sex abuse case but saying the church will appeal last week’s $8.7 million verdict...
May 20 2008 // A judge has agreed to put a lien of more than $10 million on property including the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, to secure damages won by the plaintiff in a suit alleging sexual abuse...
May 15 2008 // A jury in Vermont has awarded $8.7 million in damages to a former altar boy who sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington over sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a priest.The man, now a 40-year-old...
May 12 2008 // A Vermont judge said a jury in Burlington can consider awarding punitive and compensatory damages to a former altar boy suing the state’s Roman Catholic diocese over sexual abuse he says he suffered at the hands of a...
Mar 3 2008 // State fire investigators were sifting through the charred remains of a central Georgia church that burned to the ground.“The only thing standing is the face of the church,” McIntyre, Ga., police Sgt. Bernard...
Feb 27 2008 // Several firefighters were treated for smoke inhalation, but no other injuries were reported as fires whipped by fierce winds charred thousands of acres of Oklahoma grassland and destroyed buildings and vehicles.At least...
Feb 20 2008 // They’re among the most effective lifesaving devices a homeowner can have, cutting the risk of death from a fire nearly in half.But rural communities — where people are at greatest danger of dying by fire —...
Feb 20 2008 // Sumter County, S.C. fire officials are investigating the origin of a church fire that caused about $300,000 in damages and destroyed the sanctuary.No foul play is suspected. Sumter Fire Captain Brian Horton said the fire...
Feb 12 2008 // Wind-whipped wildfires chased churchgoers from worship, forced hundreds of residents to flee homes and closed highways across the rain-starved Carolinas and Virginia on Sunday.Twelve small structures, including at least...
Jan 21 2008 // The pastor of an Albany, Ga., church has been charged with first degree arson in connection with a fire that did severe damage to the church, the Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner’s office said.The Rev....
Jan 17 2008 // Alabama investigators said a blaze that gutted a Blount County church on Tuesday was an accident, but they are still trying to determine whether there was a link between two church fires in Chilton County.Flames burned...
Jan 8 2008 // Two Smiths, Ala., men have been charged on arson and burglary charges in connection with three church fires that occurred since Jan 1, State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk announced Monday.Geoffrey Parquette, 21, was charged with...
Jan 8 2008 // A second man from Springfield, Ore., has filed a lawsuit in Nebraska alleging that the Omaha Archdiocese ignored reports that one of its priests was having improper contact with children.The lawsuit was filed this week in...
Jan 7 2008 // A Superior Court judge has overturned a jury ruling that Vermont’s Roman Catholic Diocese isn’t liable for a pedophile priest because a victim’s lawsuit was filed after the statute of limitations had...
Jan 7 2008 // Investigators are trying to determine what started separate fires that gutted a church and two houses in rural Lee County, Ala.Authorities said a man was seriously injured in a house fire reported about 1 a.m. on Jan. 3,...
Jan 4 2008 // A fast-moving fire destroyed the sanctuary of a Spartanburg County, S.C. church, bringing down its steeple.The employees and construction crew inside escaped without injury when the Abner Creek Baptist Church caught fire...