Conn. priest who hired investigator claims bishop threatened to send him to live with nuns

October 9th, 2009 African nuns tell Vatican they want more influenceVATICAN CITY — African nuns told a Vatican meeting Friday they want more of a say in running the Catholic Church on the continent, saying they have special talents and shouldn't be left to clean churches and mend vestments. Women also have an important role to play in forging reconciliation in Africa's many tribal and ethnic conflicts — the main focus of the 3-week-long Vatican meeting on Africa, said Sister Pauline Odia Bukasa of Congo.

October 4th, 2009 Belgium, Honolulu bishop celebrate 'leper priest'TREMELO, Belgium — Belgian royals and government officials joined the bishop of Honolulu at a Mass on Sunday to celebrate a 19th-century local hero, a week before he will become a saint for his work with lepers on the Hawaiian island of Molokai. The Mass began an overcast autumn day of celebrations and fireworks that lured 20,000 people to this town of 14,000, just northeast of Brussels, where Jozef De Veuster was born in 1840.

August 31st, 2009 Pope accepts Scranton bishop's resignationVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the early retirement of a U.S. bishop who has denounced nuns for sponsoring lectures by gay-rights advocates and directed priests to deny communion to abortion backers, the Vatican said Monday.

August 23rd, 2009 Conn. priest convicted of $1M theft dies in prisonBRIDGEPORT, Conn. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport says a Connecticut priest who pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1 million from a Darien parish to support a lavish lifestyle has died.

August 14th, 2009 Mexican bishop runs over 6 people, killing 1VERACRUZ, Mexico — One person is dead and five injured in Mexico after a Roman Catholic bishop apparently lost control of his vehicle and ran them over. Police in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz say Bishop Eduardo Patino Leal has been detained in the town of Huatusco.

August 13th, 2009 Pair of nuns help Mo. police nab robbery suspectINDEPENDENCE, Mo.

August 13th, 2009 UN expert receives claims of prison abuse in IranGENEVA — A U.N. anti-torture investigator said Thursday he has received credible claims that Iranian protesters detained after the June 12 presidential elections were abused in prison.

August 2nd, 2009 L.A. Episcopalians nominate gay clergy for bishopLOS ANGELES — An openly gay priest and an openly lesbian priest are among six nominees for assistant bishop positions in the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Los Angeles. The church announced Sunday that Rev.

July 17th, 2009 High Court asked to take Conn. church abuse caseBRIDGEPORT, Conn.

July 15th, 2009 Police: Man impersonates priest, visits officerPHILADELPHIA — A 26-year-old Philadelphia man suspected of impersonating a priest while visiting a wounded police officer was arrested on Monday. The man was charged with criminal trespass and false impersonating.

July 14th, 2009 Ohio man claims he's listened to album every dayMAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — The band's managers want to meet with an Ohio heavy metal fan who said he has listened to the latest Judas Priest album every day for more than a year. Jim Bartek of Maple Heights said that's a lot of listening when you consider the album "Nostradamus" is an hour and 45 minutes long.

June 28th, 2009 Confessed hit man recants claims against NJ rabbiCAMDEN, N.J. — The man who has long claimed that a southern New Jersey rabbi hired him to kill his wife in 1994 has now recanted his story.

May 29th, 2009 Serbian priest charged in drug rehab beatingBELGRADE, Serbia — Police filed torture charges Friday against a Serbian Orthodox priest who allegedly beat a drug rehab patient with a shovel. The former head of the church-backed Crna Reka rehab center in southern Serbia, Branislav Peranovic, has been removed from his position by a local bishop after a video broadcast on national television allegedly showed him swinging a shovel at an unnamed patient's lower back.

March 30th, 2009 PATHANAMTHITTA - Bishop John Thattumkal of Kerala is in a fresh trouble. He has been found staying with the woman he had adopted as a daughter last year, which led to his suspension by the Vatican.

February 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - A group of people, allegedly Hindu activists, attacked a party of Christians including priests and nuns on Majuli island in Jorhat district in Assam Jan 24, church officials Monday said. Demanding strong action against the attackers, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) said: 'They (the attackers) were from a radical Hindu group, led by a seer.' 'We are concerned about the development in the area.