A Shelby County circuit judge has ordered a California millionaire to pay the Caritas religious group $2 million for violating a confidential April 2005 settlement of an earlier lawsuit.

About 1,000 people gathered in a Shelby County field Wednesday night to pray with a visionary who reports visions of the Virgin Mary.

Agnes Totten of Belfast, Northern Ireland, has visited what she considers some of the world's most important religious shrines: in Rome, Jerusalem, Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje, and Shelby County, Ala.

A confidential settlement has been reached in a lawsuit against the Caritas religious group by former members who claimed they were brainwashed and drained of assets.

Patrick J. Flynn said the founder of a Shelby County religious compound no longer has any control over him, but other people should be warned.

Leader must answer two days of questions

REDWOOD CITY-- A bizarre religious battle between an alleged Alabama cult and a man hell-bent on its destruction is burning its way through the San Mateo County Courthouse, with both sides suing each other for wild slander, printed allegations of attempted murder, mafia involvement, money laundering, weapons dealing and spiritual chicanery.

A contempt motion and the specter of a fatal airplane crash are the latest developments in a lawsuit against a Shelby County religious community and its founder by former residents and parents of current residents.

COLUMBIANA, Ala. -- A Roman Catholic bishop privately defended an Alabama religious community against claims it was a cult four years before ex-residents filed suit accusing the group of mind control and fraud.

A recent lawsuit in Florida is the latest legal volley against Caritas of Birmingham, an organization based in Shelby County that promotes visions of the Virgin Mary.