The Roman Catholic Church is dealing with new controversy following the resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the most senior Catholic cleric in Britain and leader of the Scottish Catholic Church, who allegedly engaged in inappropriate behavior with other priests.

In his resignation letter, O'Brien revealed that he had presented Pope Benedict XVI with his resignation a number of months ago, and recently received news that the pontiff decided that O'Brien's service would come to an end on Monday.

"I have valued the opportunity of serving the people of Scotland and overseas in various ways since becoming a priest," O'Brien, 74, who had been Scotland's top cleric since 1985, said in his letter. more >>

A Christian group is taking the Mayor of London to court this week for violating their right to free speech by banning their posters that said homosexuals can be "reoriented" through prayer and therapy, in response to a previous ad campaign by a gay rights group.

Mayor Boris Johnson barred the Core Issues Trust from installing posters on the sides of London buses that said, "Not Gay! Ex-Gay, Post-Gay and Proud. Get over it!" The ads were in response to a previous poster campaign by a gay rights group, Stonewall, which said, "Some people are gay. Get over it!"

Johnson believes the ads by the Christian trust are offensive to gays, and might spark retaliation against the wider Christian community, according to The Telegraph. more >>

Pope Benedict XVI explained his decision to step down as he delivered his final public prayer ceremony Sunday, the day after the Vatican secretariat of state strongly denounced "unverified, unverifiable, or completely false news stories" linking the pontiff's resignation to scandals in the Roman Catholic Church.

"The Lord is calling me to go on top of the hill, to dedicate myself once more to prayer and meditation," the pope said, addressing thousands at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on Sunday. "But this does not mean to abandon the church," he was quoted by media as saying.

Earlier this month, Benedict announced he was resigning, saying, "Strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me." more >>

Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries, which works to evangelize and mobilize Christian leadership throughout Eurasia, has recently brought to light the plight of Thomas Kang, a pastor from San Diego, Calif., who has been imprisoned in Russia on a bribery charge for the past five months.

The so called "bribe," as referred to by Russian authorities, was actually a $30 donation he provided along with a fully-paid fine, according to Peter Deyneka Russian Ministries.

Kang, a Korean-born, naturalized U.S. citizen, has reportedly been living in Russia for the past nine years, building the "House of Joy," a large home meant to serve as a retreat destination for low-income families of soldiers, as well as a place for Christian worship. more >>

Wildlife documentaries should show more homosexual activity in the animal kingdom, an academic study complains.

These documentaries should be showing "a wider perspective on animal behavior," Dr. Brett Mills says, according to The Independent.

Mills, a senior lecturer at the School of Film, Television and Media Studies and the University of East Anglia in Norfolk, U.K., published his study, "The animals went in two by two: Heteronormativity in television wildlife documentaries," in the February 2013, issue of the European Journal of Cultural Studies. more >>

A British ex-convict who was once heavily addicted to heroin but was able to turn his life around attributes his success to finding God during a religion course in prison.

Darrell Tunningley, who has described his former life as being "like the Antichrist," now serves as a pastor at Hope Corner Community Church in Runcorn, Cheshire, England.

"One day a bloke with a clipboard asked me if I wanted to join the Alpha Course and I basically went because they offered free coffee and biscuits and I wouldn't have to spend my afternoon in my cell," said Tunningley to the United Kingdom publication The Sun. more >>