(RNS) While Mitt Romney was building his career at Bain Capital, he was also a Mormon bishop who had to learn how to give sermons, advise squabbling couples, organize worship services, manage budgets and address the needs of more than 1,000 Mormons in the region. By Peggy Fletcher Stack.

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Commission for Religious Freedom just got two new members, both darlings of conservatives: Princeton University philosopher Robert P. George and Zuhdi Jasser, who describes himself as an alternative voice to established Muslim civil rights groups. By Al Webb and Kevin Eckstrom.

WASHINGTON (RNS) The U.S. Commission for Religious Freedom just got two new members, both darlings of conservatives: Princeton University philosopher Robert P. George and Zuhdi Jasser, who describes himself as an alternative voice to established Muslim civil rights groups. By Lauren Markoe.

WASHINGTON (RNS) Churches may have suffered financially for the past three years due to the recession, but the fourth annual "State of the Plate" found strong evidence of a rebound in 2011. By Annalisa Musarra.

(RNS) We have seen ourselves up close and decided we can do better. Pouring a lifetime of earnings into showy living becomes embarrassing. Turning religion into shouting matches and rampant bigotry doesn't pass any gospel sniff test. By Tom Ehrich.

HIGHLAND PARK, N.J. (RNS) Saul Timisela spends his days in a Sunday school classroom, with a small bed and a rack on which to dry his laundry. The room is decorated with cards from children expressing their love. "It is my home and I love it," says Timisela, who's been seeking sanctuary to avoid deportation back to Indonesia. By Bob Braun.

(RNS) In "Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion," Alain de Botton proposes ways atheists can borrow some of the rituals, practices and other trappings of religion and adapt them to build a better secular society.

VATICAN CITY (RNS) On his arrival in Cuba, Pope Benedict XVI renewed the Catholic church's pledge to work with the Communist government in order to help the island look at the future, and criticized the "ambition and selfishness" which engendered the global economic crisis. By Alessandro Speciale.

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (RNS) A fake terrorist raid staged to show Christian teenagers the perils faced by Christian missionaries left one 14-year-old girl so traumatized that her mother filed a report with the police, claiming her daughter suffered a busted lip and bruised knees. By Ed Komenda.

TRENTON, N.J. (RNS) As part of a survey to understand why they have stopped attending Mass, a few hundred lapsed Catholics were asked what issues they would raise with the bishop. He would have gotten an earful. By Peggy McGlone.

NEW YORK (RNS) Tim Tebow is Howdy Doody in a helmet, Opie Taylor running for touchdowns -- while reciting Bible verses, stopping to find a lost dog, visiting sick children in a hospital and helping a little old lady across the street, all before he reaches the end zone. By Kevin Manahan.

ORONTO (RNS) A new poll shows that more than half of all Canadians distrust Muslims, and 42 percent of Canadians said discrimination against Muslims is "mainly their fault." By Ron Csillag.