I'm late with this for some reason, but here are the Top Ten Religion Stories in 2006 according to the Religion News Service.

1. Muslim rioting in response to publication of Muhammad cartoons in Europe.

2. Muslims infuriated by remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI and his subsequent apology and trip to Turkey.

3. Problems in the Episcopal Church related to the elevation of Katharine Jefferts Schori to the denomination's top position. She is the first woman to hold the post, and openly supported the consecration of an openly homosexual bishop.

4. Ted Haggard resigns as president of the National Association of Evangelicals, and is dismissed from his congregation, following exposure of his drug use and same-sex relationship.

5. Defeat of many Republican candidates backed by the Religious Right in the fall elections.

6. Religious voices grow louder in regard to situations and events in the Middle East.

7. Murder of five Amish girls in a Pennsylvania schoolhouse and the subsequent highlighting of the community's ethic of forgiveness.

8. (tie) The movie The Da Vinci Code and related controversy.
8. (tie) Same-sex marriage issue in New Jersey and on ballots.

10. President Bush's veto of a bill expanding stem-cell research.

my take below

My list.

1. Continued resurgence of militant Islam world-wide with accompanying violence from the Philippines to Nigeria.

2. The growing Islamic presence as a society-within-a-society in Western Europe combined with low European birth-rates.

3. Small, but growing, evangelical Christian presence in Muslim nations including historic numbers (though still small) of Islam to Christian conversions.

4. Continued growth of the Christian Church in Africa and parts of Asia combined with continued decline in Western Europe leading to a shift in the power and influence within Christianity.

5. Political and religious controversy in the United States over same-sex marriage and related issues.

6. Continued troubles in and deterioration of the historic mainline denominations in the United States.