The percentage of U.S. adults who belong to a church or other religious institution has plunged by 20 percentage points over the past two decades, hitting a low of 50% last year, according to a new Gallup poll. Among major demographic groups, the biggest drops were recorded among Democrats and Hispanics. Gallup said church membership was 70% in 1999 — and close to or higher than that figure for most of the 20th century. Since 1999, the figure has fallen steadily, while the percentage of U.S. adults with no religious affiliation has jumped from 8% to 19%.

The Rev. Wilton D. Gregory was installed Tuesday as the seventh archbishop of Washington following a pair of high-profile sexual abuse cases that ensnared his two predecessors. The 71-year-old Gregory, previously the archbishop of Atlanta, becomes the first African American to lead the Washington archdiocese. Gregory replaces Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who resigned in October amid allegations that he covered up multiple abuse scandals while serving as a bishop in Pittsburgh.

Thousands of people showed up to an outdoor shopping center in Utah to see rapper Kanye West perform what he calls a worship service. Saturday's concert was held right before the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held its twice-yearly conference in Salt Lake City.

Prosecutors and lawyers for the man charged with killing 11 worshippers at a Pittsburgh synagogue last year have agreed to a 120-day extension in the case. The sides met briefly in federal court in Pittsburgh on Monday to review the status of Robert Bowers' prosecution. The defendant wasn't in court.

In the weeks since Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released a scathing report faulting the Illinois dioceses for failing to investigate hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, a daunting question has lingered on the minds of parishioners: Which priests were accused? Now, as U.S. bishops gather in suburban Mundelein for a spiritual retreat in response to the sex abuse scandal, two attorneys say they will expose the offenders known to them through handling hundreds of Illinois cases over nearly two decades.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed wedding rules Monday in hopes of preventing family members who aren't church members from feeling excluded. Couples who get married in civil ceremonies will no longer have to wait one year to do a temple wedding ceremony that only members in good standing can attend, the faith said in a news release. Church leaders said it will allow "families to come together in love and unity," but doesn't lessen the temple ceremony the faith believes seals the couple for eternity.

The Mexico-based La Luz del Mundo church said Wednesday that its leader and "apostle" Naasón Joaquín García, who was arrested in California on charges of human trafficking and child rape, remains the spiritual leader of the group, which claims 5 million followers in 58 countries. It also strongly denied the charges. "We believe these accusations are defamation and slander of our international director, the apostle of Jesus Christ," said church spokesman Silem García. "His position as apostle of Jesus Christ was given to him by God, and for life, and he continues to lead the church."

New Jersey's five Roman Catholic dioceses listed more than 180 priests Wednesday who have been credibly accused of sexually abusing minors over a span of several decades, joining more than two dozen other states that have named suspected abusers in the wake of a landmark grand jury report in Pennsylvania last year. The lists released Wednesday identified priests and deacons who served in the dioceses of Camden, Trenton, Metuchen and Paterson and the archdiocese of Newark. Many priests on the lists are deceased, and others have been removed from ministry.

The first anniversary of the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history was being marked around the world Sunday with community service projects, music and an online remembrance. The shooting on Oct. 27, 2018, killed 11 worshippers and wounded seven at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill neighborhood, where a steady stream of people stopped by Sunday.

U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops are gathering Wednesday for a weeklong retreat near Chicago on the church sexual abuse scandal that organizers say will focus on prayer and spiritual reflection and not formulating policy.