The journey was undertaken in honor of Stella Maris’s centenary. Photo: The Catholic Church

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

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

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.