(RNS) An Alabama Presbyterian church may soon become the first in the nation to form its own police force, invested by the state with the rights of “regular” police.

Source: Alabama Senate gives megachurch the right to form its own police force | Religion News Service

TANTA, Egypt — Rattling a country already wrestling with a faltering economy and deepening political malaise, two suicide bombings that killed 44 people at Coptic churches in Egypt on Palm Sunday raised the specter of increased sectarian bloodshed led by Islamic State militants.

Source: Attacks on Christians in Egypt Undercut Sisi’s Promise of Security - The New York Times

HELENA, MT - A second Montana Roman Catholic diocese will file for bankruptcy protection as part of settlements involving more than 400 people in sex abuse lawsuits, church officials said Friday.

Source: Diocese filing for bankruptcy to settle sex abuse claims

WASHINGTON (RNS) A “sleeper” of a case before the Supreme Court pits three hospitals against employees who object to the institutions’ religious exemption from a federal law that protects pensions.

Source: Religiously affiliated hospital pensions at the center of Supreme Court case | Religion News Service

RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS ARE COMING FORWARD TO DEFY THE GOVERNMENT AND SUPPORT IMMIGRANTS. Refuting Donald Trump’s decisions on banning migrants, a network of Protestant and Orthodox churches are mobilizing their congregations to provide support and shelter to refugees. The church leaders have called on their congregants to stand against President Trump’s orders on banning refugees and building a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border and to lobby the president and the congress members who implement such plans.

Source: ...

(RNS) After President Trump signed a sweeping executive order on immigration and refugee resettlement, the Christian response seemed unambiguous.Statements condemning the action came from Christian leaders and groups considered both conservative and progressive, evangelical and mainline, Catholic and Protestant ­– Christians who otherwise might disagree on any number of political or theological issues.

Source: Christians in the pew and pulpit...

After an election year that stirred up animosity across racial and religious lines, a new survey has found that Americans are actually feeling warmer toward people in nearly every religious group — including Muslims — than they did three years ago.

Source: Americans Rate Religious Groups, and Most Gain, Including Muslims - The New York Times

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher said he was ashamed and humiliated by revelations that 7 percent of Australia’s Roman Catholic clergy may have abused children between 1950 and 2010.

Source: Australian archbishop: ‘As Catholics we hang our heads in shame’ | WWRN - World-wide Religious News

OF THE 85,000 REFUGEES ENTERING THE US IN 2016, 61% WERE CHRISTIAN. Thousands of refugees fleeing from African and Middle Eastern countries end up in the United States and Europe. The U.S. has seen refugee arrivals for a long time. The common factor tying all refugees across different time periods are people running away from conflicts in their home countries for the quest of a better life. Data extracted from the Refugee Processing Center managed by the U.S. State Department shows over 3 million refugees have stepped foot on American soil since 1975.

Source: ...

President Trump promises to give priority to Christians when admitting refugees to the United States, but many Christian leaders say it's the wrong approach.

Source: Christian Leaders Question Trump's Promise To Favor Christian Refugees

Ahead of the election, leaders of the antiabortion movement faced a divide: Should they support Donald Trump, who would be more likely to push their policy proposals forward, but risk having Americans associate him with their movement?

Source: Can the March for Life heal antiabortion activists’ divide over Trump? - The Washington Post

DECISION TO CREATE TASK FORCE TAKEN AFTER TENNESSEE BISHOP BANS SAME-SEX MARRIAGES IN HIS DIOCESE DESPITE OFFICIAL PERMISSION BY CHURCH AT NATIONAL LEVEL. The Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee has turned to the National LGBTQ Task Force to review the Church’s ongoing issues with ministers officiating at same-sex marriages. Although the Episcopal Church at the national level has given official permission in 2015 to all Episcopalian churches to accept gay marriages, it had also allowed bishops to choose whether or not they will accept same-sex marriages at the diocesan level or not....

PEOPLE OF FAITH STOOD IN UNITY AT WOMEN’S MARCH IN WASHINGTON D.C. The early morning hours of January 21 saw large gatherings of women and men in Washington D.C. carrying around signs stating “Love Trumps Hate” and “I’m With Her.” The gathering was part of the much-awaited Women’s March on Washington 2017.

Source: Religious Crowd Gathers in Support of Women’s March - World Religion News