A Russian priest has 'blessed' a new missile system at a deployment ceremny broadcast on national television, raising questions about church-state relations, the arms trade and the civilian impact of a supposedly defensive weapon.

Pope Benedict XVI has received a warm welcome in Brazil, the world's largest Catholic-majority nation. But President Lula says decriminalizing abortion is a healthcare necessity and that one moral stance cannot be imposed on all.

The freedom to live out religious convictions is an important part of what it means to live in a plural and democratic society, says Catholic Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

The former Archbishop of Canterbury believes the Church of England should be disestablished if the government opts for a fully-elected second chamber, claims a leading religion writer.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster and the most senior figure in the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has claimed that the government's decision to refuse the Church an opt out from anti-discrimination legislation threatens the voluntary work of all churches.

In a further response to an article by the new leader of the Australia Labor Party, Kevin Rudd, on 'Faith and Politics', a senior Cabinet minister has accused him of using his Christian faith for political point scoring.

How Jesus turns monarchy on its head