Archbishop Jose Gomez of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said in a letter that he is stripping his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, of his archdiocese duties, claiming that he did not do enough to address abuse by priests during his time in charge.

"I find these files to be brutal and painful reading," Gomez said in the letter, referring to more than 12,000 pages of files the church posted on Thursday detailing child sexual abuse crimes its priests have been accused of. "The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children."

The files apparently showed that Mahony worked with other top officials to protect the church body from many of the accusations filed against it, and shielded pedophile priests in fears that the church would be engulfed in a bigger scandal. more >>

Pastor Greg Laurie, perhaps best known for his large-scale evangelistic events called "Harvest Crusades" that originated in Southern California, recently announced that his Riverside-based church's second main campus in the Orange County city of Irvine will need to move to a new location because more space is needed.

Harvest Orange County, which started out as a weekly Bible study that moved to several locations within the county over the years before becoming a church plant in Irvine almost three years ago, now has a congregation of more than 2,000 people. Laurie regularly preaches Sunday services first at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside for the early morning services, and then commutes for a 30-minute or more drive to the Irvine location to then deliver his sermon for the 11:30 a.m. service.

Below is an interview with Laurie conducted by email with The Christian Post in which he discusses the Harvest Orange County church and a search for a new building. more >>

A large new atheist billboard has been unveiled along a San Diego freeway, the result of co-operative work of over 18 atheist and secular groups, which reads "Atheism: A Personal Relationship with Reality."

"We want to express how using intelligence to free oneself of the god idea can open the curtain to a inspiring new outlook," said Debbie Allen, coordinator for the San Diego Coalition of Reason, in a statement. "Atheism is positive and offers grounding in the real world."

Eighteen or so atheist groups besides the Coalition of Reason helped American Atheists, the largest atheist organization in America, keep the $4,000 billboard up for the next four weeks. The billboard features a curtain with a painting of a sky exposing a stack of books, and was designed by graphic artist Bruce Harris for the San Diego Coalition of Reason. more >>

Over 50,000 people gathered for the annual Walk for Life West Coast in San Francisco, Calif., days after the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, prompting Pope Benedict XVI to applaud the event as an "outstanding public witness to the fundamental human right to life."

Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the pope's representative to the United States, addressed the tens of thousands gathered in front of San Francisco's City Hall on Saturday, delivering a message from the pontiff, according to the organizers.

The pope, the archbishop read, "is grateful to all those who take part in this outstanding public witness to the fundamental human right to life and the moral imperative of upholding the inviolable dignity of each member of our human family, especially the smallest and most defenseless of our brothers and sisters." more >>

Crystal Cathedral's board of directors has voted to make Bobby Schuller, the grandson of the megachurch's founder Robert H. Schuller, the new pastor for the weekly "Hour of Power" television program as well as a non-voting member of the board.

"Be inspired by Hour of Power pastor Bobby Schuller," a link on the website of the Garden Grove, Calif.-based church says.

The decision was announced by President and CEO John Charles at a congregational meeting Thursday night, according to Orange County Register. "He's been a true godsend," Charles was quoted as saying. The 31-year-old Schuller's Sunday morning sermons will be heard across the U.S. and 11 other countries, he added. more >>

The lineup for Coachella 2013, the three-day music festival which takes place in the desert city of Indio, Calif., was released late on Thursday, and features key acts such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Blur, Social Distortion, and Lou Reed.

The full name of the festival, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, has been widely accepted by many younger American generations as the most popular music festival in the country.

The three-day event, which takes place on two separate weekends in the sweltering heat of California's Coachella Valley, features headliner musicians, old school legends, and up-and-coming acts, not to mention a variety of installation artists dotted throughout the festival grounds to showcase their work. more >>