Religion

Noah Shaw was diagnosed with a potentially fatal cancer when he was just 4 months old. That didn't shake his father's faith in God. But it did drive him to try to invent an early cancer test.

Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, used to be an underground folk saint in Mexico. Now she's also popular in the U.S. So popular, in fact, that the Vatican has denounced her.

Following two doctrinally conservative leaders, Pope Francis' pastoral approach in his first year has given the Catholic Church a new glow. But it's still unclear where he intends to take the church.

The Kentucky Baptist Convention has found a surefire way for getting people through church doors: free guns. The church raffle events combine dinner, sermons and a Second Amendment message.

Amid the religious evangelists in San Diego's Balboa Park, there's a table with a banner that reads, "Relax, Hell Does Not Exist." These atheists are looking for converts.

When the sisters of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles are not hard at work on their monastery grounds, they're topping the charts with albums of sacred music. "We're not fabricating anything," Mother Cecilia says. "This is just music we're pulling from our everyday life."

The "Charismatic" movement involves worshipping with exuberance, miraculous healings, prophesying and establishing a personal connection with God — and the number of converts is growing. According to a recent survey by NPR, about one-third of Latino Catholics in the U.S. identify as "Charismatic."

There's little talk of God at "Sunday Assembly," but you will find community, music and skepticism. There are now almost 30 congregations in several countries, offering what the British founders of the movement call "the best bits of church, but with no religion and awesome pop songs."

Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber, with her short, moussed hair and armloads of religious tattoos, is a bit of a Lutheran rock star at the moment (although the term makes her cringe). Her new book — a memoir on faith and her religious experience — recently made the New York Times best-seller list.

Jamison Manwaring says life is better since he came out to his family and friends in the Mormon community. Now you tell us: Have you had to reconcile a loved one's sexuality with your own beliefs?