The Associated Press

A federal judge signaled that he believes there's a good chance that Kansas is violating religious freedom and free speech rights with a coronavirus-inspired 10-person limit on in-person attendance at religious services or activities and he blocked its enforcement against two churches that sued over it.

The global health crisis is taking a nasty political turn with tensions worsening between governments locked down to keep the coronavirus at bay and people yearning to restart stalled economies and forestall fears of a depression.

For Orthodox Christians, this is normally a time of reflection and mourning followed by joyful release, of centuries-old ceremonies steeped in symbolism and tradition. But this year, Easter — by far the most significant religious holiday for the world's roughly 300 million Orthodox — has essentially been canceled.

A Roman Catholic diocese in New Mexico announced April 15 it will reopen churches and allow a small number of people to attend public celebrations of Mass in what could be the first move to alter a diocese-declared ban on public services in the U.S.

Polish lawmakers on April 16 postponed a final decision on controversial proposals to impose a near-total ban on abortion and criminalize school sex education in the predominantly Catholic country, in a move that could lead to the draft laws being mothballed.

Leading Republicans say the coronavirus shutdown cannot go on. Car-honking activists swarmed a statehouse April 15 to protest stay-home restrictions. Capitol Hill staff are quietly drafting bills to undo the just-passed rescue aid and push Americans back to work.

Two lawsuits have been filed against the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte claiming two boys were sexually abused in separate instances by the two priests they sought out for help with personal problems decades ago.

While most leaders of major religions have supported governments' efforts to fight the pandemic by limiting gatherings, a minority of the faithful — in both religious and secular institutions — have not.

Polish lawmakers began debating draft laws April 15 that would impose a near-total ban on abortion, criminalize sex education in schools and equate homosexuality with pedophilia, revisiting proposals backed by a Catholic group that were shelved after a popular outcry.

The Vatican on April 15 replaced the director of its financial watchdog agency, completing a coup that began in October with controversial police raids on the watchdog offices and an investigation into a London real estate deal.

Cardinal George Pell has linked his fight against corruption in the Vatican with his prosecution in Australia for alleged child sex abuse.

Storms that killed more than 30 people in the Southeast, piling fresh misery atop a pandemic, spread across the eastern United States on April 13, leaving more than 1 million homes and businesses without power amid floods and mudslides.

Christians around the world celebrated Easter Sunday isolated in their homes by the coronavirus while pastors preached the faith's joyous news of Christ's resurrection to empty pews.

Christians are commemorating Jesus' crucifixion without the solemn church services or emotional processions of past years, marking Good Friday in a world locked down by the coronavirus pandemic.

The virus outbreak has put much of American life on hold, but the nation's culture wars seem immune from the pandemic.

Gov. Laura Kelly's executive order restricting the size of religious gatherings amid the coronavirus outbreak was overturned April 8 after the state's top prosecutor said it likely violates the state constitution.

A staggering 16.8 million Americans have been thrown onto the unemployment rolls in just three weeks, underscoring the terrifying speed with which the coronavirus outbreak has brought world economies to their knees.

Across the Middle East and parts of South Asia, bereaved families have faced traumatic restrictions on burying their dead amid the pandemic. Religion and customs that require speedy burials in the largely Muslim region have clashed with fears of COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, and government-mandated lockdowns.

Australia's highest court has dismissed the convictions of Cardinal George Pell, the most senior Catholic found guilty of child sex abuse. 

President Donald Trump's reelection campaign is ramping up its courtship of Catholic voters ahead of a likely November matchup against a devout Catholic Democrat, former Vice President Joe Biden.