Analysis Opinion

Meeting the World to Convert the World

The Council called the Church to convert the modern world. How? By offering Jesus Christ as the icon of a genuine humanism and the sacramental Church as the icon of authentic human community.

Aug 17, 2025 22:58

ZENIT Staff

Bioethics

U.S. to Destroy $10 Million in Contraceptives

Tammy Bruce, State Department spokesman said the sale of such contraceptives and abortifacients would violate U.S. policy that forbids U.S. financial support for abortion overseas. She also said the material could be used “in a kind of forced sterilization framework that some nations do apply” that the U.S. cannot contribute to.

Aug 17, 2025 22:48

ZENIT Staff

Homosexuality

US Human Rights Report Leaves Out LGBTs

The Washington Post wrote that this year’s “draft reports examined by the Post contain no reference to gender-based violence or violence against LGBTQ+ (sic) people.”

Aug 17, 2025 22:46

ZENIT Staff

Liturgy and Divine Worship

Questions about liturgy: Churches Named for ‘St. Mary’

Those Marian feasts which have no fixed date in the calendar can be celebrated on the feast of the Holy Name of Mary on September 12.

Aug 17, 2025 22:41

ZENIT Staff

Marriage and Family•Young People

UN Child Rights Committee Promotes Abortion, Undermines Parental Rights in New General Comment

The Committee on the Rights of the Child is the treaty body monitoring countries’ compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is the UN human rights treaty ratified by the most nations—only the United States has not ratified it.

Aug 16, 2025 22:49

ZENIT Staff

Pope Leo XIV•Virgin Mary

The Pope’s first homily dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the Feast of the Assumption

Homily of Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary

Aug 15, 2025 16:13

ZENIT Staff

Good News•Local Church•Persecuted Christians•Virgin Mary

The 7th shrine dedicated to Mary, mother of persecuted Christians, will open in Iraq

The new shrine will stand within the recently built Church of St. Ephrem, its focal point an icon delivered this August by Father Benedict Kiely, founder of the Vermont-based charity Nasarean.org.

Aug 15, 2025 10:06

ZENIT Staff

Vatican City

The Vatican Museums announce that Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel will be restored in 2026

For three months, scaffolding will cover the entire altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, supporting a dozen platforms where up to twelve specialists can work simultaneously

Aug 15, 2025 09:59

ZENIT Staff

Persecuted Christians

Mob of Hindu extremists attack priests, nuns, and catechists in India

This violence, the bishops argue in their August 8 statement, is part of “a disturbing pattern of hostility toward the Christian minority in India.” They call it “a blatant violation of constitutional rights and human dignity” and urge Odisha’s government to swiftly prosecute the perpetrators

Aug 15, 2025 09:55

ZENIT Staff

Local Church

Jewish state of Israel expels Catholic priest from its territory “for reasons of national security”

According to an expulsion order reviewed by ZENIT, the decision was justified on unspecified grounds of “national security.” The document stated that the priest would be removed “as soon as possible” and, until then, held in a designated location

Aug 14, 2025 18:14

ZENIT Staff

Local Church

British police arrest Catholic priest for publicly supporting the Palestinian cause

The arrests came in the wake of the UK government’s June 2025 decision to proscribe the organisation under terrorism legislation, a move that has polarised public opinion and drawn criticism from across the religious spectrum.

Aug 14, 2025 18:12

ZENIT Staff

Holy Land•Local Church

The Association of Hebrew Catholics is born in the Holy Land: we tell you what it is and what it does

While the association will not establish parishes or administer sacraments — duties already handled by the Vicariate of St. James under the Latin Patriarchate — it intends to focus on cultural and spiritual formation

Aug 14, 2025 18:09

ZENIT Staff