Christopher Vondracek

Donald Trump’s Syria pullout endangers Christians, evangelicals warn

Christian evangelicals and religious advocates are sharply criticizing President Trump's decision to pull U.S. troops back from northern Syria, warning it has created a security vacuum on the ground that puts religious minorities in the firing line and could lead to a resurgence of both Islamist Turkish influence and the revival of the radical Islamic State movement.

October 9, 2019

Roger Severino says religious liberty protections need to be institutionalized

The future under President Trump, thanks to the administration's push for religious liberty and expression, will not resemble the secular one envisioned by John Lennon in his song "Imagine," one of the government's top civil rights lawyers said Tuesday.

October 8, 2019

Justice Department looks to overturn Maine’s refusal to pay for religious school tuition

The Department of Justice is supporting Maine parents who are challenging a state school tuition policy they say violates the First Amendment rights of students who attend religious schools.

October 8, 2019

Pope Francis gets help putting his stamp on Catholic Church from new cardinals

Pope Francis created 13 new cardinals over the weekend, the latest sign of his solidifying his influence over his successor as head of the global Roman Catholic Church.

October 7, 2019

Calif. mayor defends police against Trump supporters amid fallout from canceled charity event

Thousand Oaks, Calif., Mayor Rob McCoy is pushing back against the organizer of a canceled charity football game who Mr. McCoy said tried to turn the fundraiser for a fallen police officer into a campaign-style rally for President Trump.

October 4, 2019

Keith Ellison takes fight with Christian video company to lower courts

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says he will fight two filmmakers who cite their Christian beliefs in declining to film gay weddings in a lower court instead of taking it to the Supreme Court, saying he fears the high court's conservative majority.

October 4, 2019

Pro-life, pro-choice doctors spar over medical necessity of abortion

Pro-choice and pro-life gynecologists are arguing over whether abortion is ever necessary to save a pregnant person's life.

October 3, 2019

80% of Americans say top priority of K-12 education should be learning to read, write, survey finds

More than 80% of Americans say the top goal of K-12 students should be learning to read and write, according to a new national survey.

October 2, 2019

Jury selection for David Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, Planned Parenthood case begins

Jury selection in the civil trial of pro-life activists who secretly filmed Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue begins Wednesday in San Francisco.

October 1, 2019

Peter Vlaming, fired teacher, sues Va. school; used wrong pronoun for transgender male

A French teacher is suing the Virginia high school that fired him last year for referring to a transgender male student as "her."

October 1, 2019

Southern Baptist Convention meeting to address crisis criticized by sexual abuse survivors

The Southern Baptist Convention opens a three-day meeting of pastors, youth leaders and laypeople on Thursday in Dallas to address a clergy sex abuse crisis that has shaken the nation's largest Protestant denomination.

September 30, 2019

DOJ backs Indianapolis archbishop who told Catholic school to fire gay teacher

The Department of Justice is defending a Catholic archdiocese in Indianapolis that told a high school to fire a gay teacher.

September 27, 2019

Catholic adoption agency in Michigan to stay in business — for now

A Catholic adoption agency in Michigan will be allowed to stay in business while a case challenging the state's adoption law works its way through the courts.

September 27, 2019

Pro-life group pressures Catholic colleges to remove links to Planned Parenthood

The national pro-life advocacy group Students for Life is pressuring Catholic colleges to remove Planned Parenthood internships, programming, even web links, from their campuses.

September 27, 2019

Arlington National Cemetery burial restriction plan hit by American Legion

The Army says it is ensuring that American heroes will continue to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery for the next 150 years by instituting stricter eligibility requirements for interment at the military graveyard.

September 25, 2019

Vatican reinstates Indiana Jesuit school that kept gay teacher

The Vatican has temporarily reinstated a Jesuit school that had been suspended for refusing the Indianapolis archbishop's decree to fire an openly gay teacher.

September 25, 2019

Pro-life advocates fear rulings on Georgia, Tennessee abortion laws may reverse gains

Attorneys representing two Southern states with restrictive abortion laws faced federal judges on Monday in court cases that could reverse recent gains made by pro-life advocates.

September 23, 2019

Alliance Defending Freedom appeals court decision clearing Arkansas State U. in free-speech spat

The conservative Alliance Defending Freedom is appealing a federal judge's ruling that a new law in Arkansas gets college administrators off the hook in a free-speech spat with a student who was promoting her right-wing club.

September 20, 2019

Ulrich Klopfer, late abortion doctor, motive sought by police after fetal remains found in home

A county sheriff in rural Illinois said Thursday that the boxes stacked inside a garage at a late abortionist's home looked like they could have stored oil or motor parts -- except they held more than 2,000 fetal remains.

September 19, 2019

Federal judge blocks South Dakota’s ‘riot boosting’ laws

A federal judge has blocked two South Dakota laws that prohibit support for rioters, ruling that the measures "do in part restrict speech."

September 19, 2019