PROVO, Utah – Brigham Young University, affiliated with the Mormon Church, has lifted a three-year campus-wide ban on YouTube.

According to a university spokeswoman, even though much of YouTube's content violates the school’s strict guidelines for virtuous living, university and church officials decided the popular online video-sharing website includes an increasing amount of educational materials that simply cannot be ignored. Of particular concern for administrators were professors’ complaints about being unable to access relevant YouTube content.

WASHINGTON – Two dozen conservative Christian groups banded together Tuesday to form what they hope will become a single force for advancing shared political and social agendas.

The newly formed Freedom Federation plans to oppose such issues as abortion, pornography and same-sex unions. It plans to support parental rights, religious liberty, limited government and private firearms ownership.

TEHRAN, Iran - Saturday, as promised by the Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the jackboots of the security forces and the basij Islamic paramilitary came down hard on the people.

They still are, as large segments of the population continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the outcome of the recent elections and their aftermath.

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican has embraced the Web and declared “the Internet is blessed.”

During a recent Communications Day speech, Father Frederico Lombardi SJ, head of communications at the Vatican, praised the Internet as a potential force for great good. Lombardi said the modern medium offers a wealth of opportunities for creating unity and rallying support for the less fortunate.

At the same time, he noted, “risks and ambiguities attend this stage, the enormous potential for manipulation and moral corruption that are nested in the modern social communications.”

According to Lombardi, there are six deadly sins — or “faces of evil” — in online communities: falsehood, pride, oppression and injustice, debauched sensuality, escapism and division.

MIAMI – A Catholic priest caught on film in a compromising clinch with a person of the opposite sex has been relieved of his duties with the Archdiocese of Miami pending an investigation and potential disciplinary action.

Father Alberto Cutié [pronounced “KOO-tee-ay”], 39, is on leave from his position as head of St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Miami Beach and as president of the archdiocese’s Radio Paz and Radio Peace broadcasts. For 11 years Cutié also hosted TV talk shows on the Telemundo network. His millions of fans in 22 countries dubbed him “Father Oprah.”

He was ordained in 1995.

The scandal began when Spanish-language magazine TV Notas let it be known its May 6 issue would contain photos allegedly showing the Puerto Rico-born priest caressing and kissing a young

DENVER – Despite evolving secular laws in several U.S. states, the high court of the United Methodist Church has ruled clergy may not perform same-sex marriages or consecrate gay civil unions. Those who violate the ban risk losing their ministerial credentials.

The UMC’s General Conference, the denomination’s legislative body, last year voted to retain the prohibition on same-sex unions, even though the ban placed some ministers at odds with local law and their own consciences.

Growing unrest within the church over diverging opinions about same-sex marriages precipitated resolutions from two regional Methodist groups in support of clergy who wished to break with church doctrine over the matter. The California-Nevada Annual Conference supported retired ministers who agreed to perform the ceremonies. The California-Pacific Conference recognized “the pastoral need and prophetic authority of our clergy and congregations to offer the ministry of marriage ceremonies for same-gender couples.”

The matter was settled Monday in “church court” with the Judicial Council’s ruling in Denver.