A historic renovation of the Church of the Nativity is lifting spirits in the biblical town of Bethlehem, offering visitors a look at ancient mosaics and columns that have been restored to their original glory for the first time in 600 years.

A Nebraska elementary school principal has been placed on leave after a conservative Christian group threatened legal action over her ban on Christmas and holiday symbols in her school.

Survivors of the Nazi Holocaust are gathering in four cities around the world for menorah-lighting ceremonies marking the third night of Hanukkah.

Pope Francis has been quoted in a soon-to-be published book as saying that having gays in the clergy "is something that worries me" and remarking that some societies are considering homosexuality a "fashionable" lifestyle.

Pope Francis named the Vatican's top sex abuse investigator and a close U.S. ally to an organizing committee for a February abuse prevention summit that has become a high-stakes credibility test following a new eruption of the scandal in the U.S.

The Vatican is confirming Pope Francis will travel to Panama in January for the Catholic Church's big youth rally, and says he'll also spend time there with juvenile delinquents and people suffering from AIDS.

Pope Francis is praying with thousands of poor people in the splendor of St. Peter's Basilica and decrying that the "few rich" grow even wealthier.

After losing her re-election bid for the clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky during the midterms, Kim Davis, who refused same-sex couples marriage licenses in 2015, may be on the path to her next job.

U.S. Catholic bishops made clear their frustrations Wednesday as a national assembly focused on clergy sex-abuse neared its conclusion without strong new steps to combat the multifaceted crisis.

An Episcopal bishop in central New York says her diocese will continue to support same-sex marriages despite her counterpart in Albany issuing a pastoral directive against it.