PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Will a Catholic monsignor be left to defend the sins of the Philadelphia archdiocese in the child sex-abuse scandal? A judge Wednesday may rule on whether prosecutors can use dozens of old priest-abuse allegations at Monsignor William Lynn’s upcoming child-endangerment trial. Defense lawyers insist Lynn should only be tried for his oversight of the priest and ex-priest on trial with him on rape charges. The 61-year-old Lynn is accused of failing to weed them out despite sex-abuse... Read more

DUBLIN (AP) — A defrocked Irish priest who was extradited from Brazil with British help has appeared in a Dublin court charged with 55 counts of sexually abusing 18 children. The judge ordered 72-year-old Peter Kennedy held without bail Wednesday in Dublin’s Cloverhill Prison until his next court appearance Feb. 8. Kennedy fled to England in 2002 after his accusers told police he had molested them when they were children from 1968 to 1984. The church removed Kennedy from the... Read more

VATICAN CITY (AP) — An Italian news program has obtained letters from a top Vatican official to the pope in which he begs not to be transferred after exposing corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts that cost the Holy See millions of euros (dollars). Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano was removed in October as the No. 2 administrator of the Vatican city-state and was named the pope’s ambassador to Washington. While the job is highly prestigious, the posting took Vigano... Read more

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says it has no comment on a media report that an Italian prelate was transferred to Washington as papal ambassador after he wrote to the pope complaining about corruption in the awarding of Vatican contracts. The allegation is carried in a report, being televised Wednesday night, by Gian Luigi Nuzzi, author of a 2009 book outlining the shady dealings by the Vatican bank. A report in Corriere della Sera on Wednesday said Archbishop Carlo... Read more

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) — A teenager charged with attempted murder in the firebombings of two New Jersey synagogues pleaded not guilty Wednesday, as authorities announced they would conduct a sweep of synagogues within a 10-mile radius of his home to look for arson materials. The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office characterized the search as precautionary and didn’t say it was prompted by a specific threat or by new information the suspect had provided. Authorities have contended 19-year-old Anthony Graziano searched on... Read more

Mitt Romney’s newly released tax returns provide more than an accounting of the Republican presidential candidate’s remarkable personal wealth. The documents also give a rare glimpse into tithing to the Mormon church by one of its most prominent members. Romney reports he will give a total of $4.13 million to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints over two years as part of his overall charitable donations. The former Massachusetts governor reported income of about $43 million for the... Read more

TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Tunisia’s government says security forces have ended a 2-month-old demonstration of ultraconservative Muslims that prevented exams being given at a university near the capital. Hatem Kattou, spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, said Tuesday that the dozens of Salafist protesters have been evicted from Manouba University. Since the end of November, Salafists have protested the university policy preventing women from wearing the Islamic face veil during exams because they cannot be identified. University officials say... Read more

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Lawyers for a Catholic Church official say prosecutors are trying to hold him alone responsible for the priest abuse scandal in Philadelphia. Prosecutors want to include accusations against dozens of priests when Monsignor William Lynn goes on trial in March on child endangerment and conspiracy charges. Lynn served as secretary of clergy for the archdiocese from 1992 to 2004. Many of the accusations are decades old. Prosecutors say Lynn kept priests on the job despite explosive allegations... Read more

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill confirming the use of religious symbols at military memorials. It was also voting on legislation to order that a prayer issued by Franklin Roosevelt on D-Day be installed at the World War II memorial in Washington. The first bill would write into law existing practice of allowing display of religious symbols at military memorials and cemeteries. It was introduced by Rep. Duncan Hunter, a San Diego Republican, in response to a... Read more

RYE, New York (AP) — Fifteen Muslims on Tuesday won conditional dismissals of charges stemming from an amusement park disturbance that started when women were told they couldn’t wear religious headscarves on some rides. A Rye Town Court judge told the defendants their cases would be dropped if they stayed out of trouble for two months. Most had been charged only with disorderly conduct, but the charges ranged up to second-degree assault. All the female defendants wore headscarves. Some of... Read more