The Rev. Fred Luter was elected the first black president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Sen. Marco Rubio explains why he's not Mormon anymore. Some Mormons practice "mixed-orientation" marriages. 

NEW YORK (RNS/ENInews) A retired Episcopal bishop and a Harlem priest were among seven people convicted Monday on trespassing on property owned by one of the Episcopal Church's wealthiest parishes at the height of the Occupy protests. By Sharon Sheridan.

NEW ORLEANS (RNS) Pointing heavenward and wiping away tears, the Rev. Fred Luter was elected Tuesday (June 19) as the first black president of the predominantly white Southern Baptist Convention. By Adelle M. Banks.

NEW YORK (RNS) Regardless of whether the Presbyterian Church (USA) decides to reopen the fight over divesting from Israel, the fact that so much time and energy are expended threatens interfaith comity, and not only between Jews and Presbyterians. By Noam E. Marans.

NEW YORK (RNS) Cardinal Timothy Dolan loves to play up his Irish roots, but he may want to steer clear of the old sod for a while given the Irish bishops’ sharp rejection of Dolan’s scathing verdict on the orthodoxy of Ireland’s leading seminary. By David Gibson

WASHINGTON (RNS) A Christian foster care organization is poised to take charge of $2 million in assets from the troubled children's charity run by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky. By Chris Lisee.

(RNS) The Roman Catholic Church and an evangelical megachurch are among the religious groups applying for newly available Internet domain names. But as .com and .org are replaced by more specific online addresses, should names such as .Catholic and .church be under the control of religious partisans? By Daniel Burke.

(RNS) "Speaking truth to power" sounds like a noble calling until power pushes back. When big givers say "Jump!" it is the rare leader who says anything other than "How high?" It's time for that to change. What a noble service to America it would be if faith communities led the way. By Tom Ehrich.

Devilish journalists, nuns digging in and Fred Luter's big day.

(RNS) American nuns who are under investigation by the Vatican say last week's discussions with Rome were "difficult" and indicate that public comments by a number of U.S. bishops have not made negotiations easier. By David Gibson.

(RNS) Members of a Hutterite colony in Montana that's the focus of a new National Geographic reality show say the series is a ``distorted and exploitative'' depiction of their life that is not what the producers promised. By Chris Lisee.

(RNS) A growing number of ordinances are pitting city officials against homeless advocates. City leaders say they want to improve the lives of homeless people and ensure public safety, while supporters of the homeless argue that such regulations criminalize homelessness. By Yamiche Alcindor.

LOS ANGELES (RNS) Abdel is an Egyptian Christian, so fearful of retribution that he asked that only his first name be used. Fellow Coptic Christians, he says, can't get jobs in Egypt, and he was jailed for nine days for handling out Christian pamphlets.  By Lilly Fowler.

(RNS) If a person looks at faith like a string of Christmas lights, if one junction along the string is flawed, then the whole string is dysfunctional. The problem, though, is that such a view of faith is too easily manufactured and too easily broken. By Melissa Inouye.

Romney phones it in at Faith & Freedom Conference. Catholic hospitals reject Obama's contraception compromise. Former NYT editor tells liberal Catholics to leave the church.