US Olympic Committee bans biological men who identify as women

How many Christians remain in Gaza after nearly two years of war? These are the data

ZENIT Staff

The numbers paint a picture both stark and sacred. Before the conflict escalated, over a thousand Christians — mostly Orthodox and Catholic — called Gaza home

Community Life: A Possible Solution to the Priestly Crisis

ZENIT Staff

The challenge is not simply to remedy a problem, but to reimagine a way of priestly life more in tune with the truth of man, the very nature of the ministry, and the logic of the Gospel.

“Pope Leo XIV’s Paths”: New Tourist Route Is Presented in Peru

ZENIT Staff

«We are facing a route that not only runs through streets and churches, but rather travels through the memory, faith, and hope of a people who never ceased dreaming and who today can proudly say that we have a Peruvian Pope,» said the country’s President, noting that this initiative is also a tribute to Leo XIV.

How clergy and religious grapple with chastity in the tech age

ZENIT Staff

In stark reality, many priestly and religious individuals are failing to properly integrate their sexuality. They neglect to give it the necessary time, energy, and attention. This void is increasingly filled by a secular-tinged virtual world that infiltrates convents, monasteries, and seminaries, causing significant disorientation and deviation from their consecrated, chaste lives.

The world’s largest mural dedicated to a pope: Argentina unveils mural dedicated to Pope Francis

ZENIT Staff

The mural’s creator, Martín Ron, is no stranger to large-scale urban art. Renowned for his hyperrealistic technique, Ron has transformed urban walls around the world into vivid portals of storytelling. But this piece, which stretches vertically up a building façade not far from the archdiocesan cathedral, carries particular emotional weight — both for the artist and for a nation that once called Jorge Mario Bergoglio its own.

US Olympic Committee bans biological men who identify as women from competing against women in women’s sports

Tim Daniels

USOPC leaders Sarah Hirshland and Gene Sykes acknowledged the update in a message to Team USA athletes and partners, underscoring that the committee, as a federally chartered body, is bound to respect federal directives. “Our statutory framework requires us to uphold the expectations laid out by our government,” the letter states, pointing to the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act as a foundational legal benchmark.

Ukraine’s ultimatum to Russian Orthodox Christians

ZENIT Staff

Kiev has ordered the pro-Russian UOC to sever all ties with the Moscow Patriarchate by 18 August. It currently has around 10,000 parishes, a number now equivalent to that of the autocephalous Orthodox Church. Defending Metropolitan Onufryj – who has always maintained a balance between rejecting war and maintaining ties with the Russian Church – is Larisa Brodetskaja, a veteran of the Ukrainian armed forces in the resistance against Moscow’s troops.

After 51 days in captivity, 11 hostages, including a priest, are freed in Nigeria

Maria Lozano

Father Afina’s release comes as northern Nigeria continues to face severe violence from extremist groups, with kidnappings and attacks.

New Wave of Violence Against Christian Communities in Syria: Greek-Catholic Church Attacked and Bomb Plot Foiled at Maronite Church

Maria Lozano

These incidents come less than a month after the suicide bombing of the Orthodox Church of St. Elias in the Christian neighborhood of Dweil’a, Damascus

New York photographer wins freedom to express messages consistent with her beliefs on marriage

ZENIT Staff

New York state law forces photographer and blogger Emilee Carpenter to create photographs and blogs celebrating same-sex weddings if she does so for weddings between one man and one woman. Penalties for violating the law include fines of up to $100,000, a revoked business license, and up to a year in jail.

Timothy Schmalz’s “Homeless Jesus” installed and blessed in Santiago de Compostela

ZENIT Staff

The work, inspired by the Gospel of Saint Matthew, invites us to see Christ in the marginalized of our society.

Ten Years After the Vatican’s Recognition of Palestine as a State, the UN Visits Catholic Parish in Gaza

Rafael Llanes

On July 1, a United Nations delegation (specifically the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) visited the Holy Family parish, a Latin Rite Catholic church in Gaza, where hundreds of Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim people are sheltered, displaced by the war.