Jews Denounce the Persecution of Christians by Radical Jews in the Holy Land

Twenty Fiat Topolino Electric Vehicles: The New Cars That Will Drive Through Vatican City

ZENIT Staff

This is the first batch of 20 vehicles, to be followed by an additional shipment of 10 Fiat Topolinos, [“baby mice”] which the automaker will provide to the Governorate of Vatican City State, in order to reinforce a shared commitment to more sustainable and responsible mobility, through innovative, all-electric solutions.

Israel and the Armenian Genocide: Historical Justice or Contempt for Ankara?

ZENIT Staff

The Israeli government has recognized the Armenian Genocide of 1915, following decades of silence imposed by its relations with Turkey. This decision comes amidst deteriorating relations between Israel and Ankara due to the war in Gaza.

The United States Intervenes Following the Arrest of a Catholic Bishop by the Nicaraguan Dictatorship

ZENIT Staff

Initial reports indicated that Mata was transferred to the Evaristo Vásquez Sánchez Police Complex in Managua, commonly known as “El Nuevo Chipote,” a detention center that has become synonymous with the imprisonment of political opponents. Although some sources later stated that he had been returned to his residence in Tisma, uncertainty soon emerged regarding his true situation

What happens when technology no longer assists religious life but begins to replace it?

ZENIT Staff

Technology can strengthen human relationships when it bridges distance or facilitates communication. But when it becomes a substitute for genuine human connection, something essential is lost

Scottish bishops sell the Pontifical Scottish College in Rome

ZENIT Staff

Technology can strengthen human relationships when it bridges distance or facilitates communication. But when it becomes a substitute for genuine human connection, something essential is lost

Cardinal López Romero Steps Aside from Duties Following Accusations by Some Women Against Him

ZENIT Staff

In a letter issued on Monday, July 6, Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero told the Catholic community of Rabat: «I am accused of inappropriate behavior toward adult women. This situation has led the Church to open a preliminary investigation.»

Decline, Resurgence, and Breaking Stereotypes: The State of Vocations and Priestly Ordinations in France, Germany, and Italy

ZENIT Staff

Rather than a single narrative of inevitable decline or universal revival, today’s Catholic Church presents a far more complex landscape—one in which signs of renewal and symptoms of crisis coexist, often separated by little more than a national border

Jews Denounce the Persecution of Christians by Radical Jews in the Holy Land: Facts, Figures, and Other Concerns

ZENIT Staff

According to the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, 155 incidents targeting Christians and Christian institutions were documented in Israel and East Jerusalem during 2025, up significantly from 111 cases the previous year. These included physical assaults, vandalism, desecration of churches, verbal abuse and the increasingly reported phenomenon of clergy being spat upon in public

Does the Devil Exist?

 

How Christian nationalism shows up in patriotic worship services

How Christian nationalism shows up in patriotic worship services
Baptist News Global: In the same way many churches offer literature about the church in public areas, First Baptist Houston handed out America’s founding documents.

 

Between July 4 and Nov. 3, faith leaders seek fair access to the voting booth
Religion News Service: “Our churches, our mosques, our synagogues, our places of worship will become democracy hubs,” said Minister JaNaé Bates Imari, co-executive director of the interfaith group ISAIAH Minnesota.

 

What death doulas can teach us about dying well without religion
The Conversation: In our recent study, we interviewed more than 70 death doulas in seven countries to help us understand how outlooks on death are changing in a shifting religious landscape.

 

This is one of the hardest jobs in America. Millions are doing it alone.*
The New York Times: Behind closed doors, millions of Americans are stepping into one of the hardest roles they’ll ever take on: caring for their aging parents.

 

German public university creates Islamic theology faculty
DW: The University of Münster is the first public university in Europe to establish an Islamic theology faculty, a move that is attracting international attention.

Notre-Dame Cathedral enters final stage of restoration

During World Cup, Argentina’s bishops warn of increased online betting by children and young people

Although gambling ads are not permitted at World Cup venues, they are common on TV and other venues in Argentina during halftime.

Pennsylvania Catholic schools brace for possible tax-credit cuts

If a bill passed by the state House eliminating the tax credits becomes law, scholarship organizations would lose their funding source and students would lose tuition assistance.

Little Sisters argue contraception mandate case before 3rd Circuit as long fight continues

The dispute stems from a 2011 federal rule requiring employers to include contraception coverage in employee health plans under the Affordable Care Act.

Notre-Dame Cathedral enters final stage of restoration following 2019 fire

The cathedral has reopened but restoration work remains to be done, including on the western rose window.

What an Authentic Mandate Looks Like

Msgr. Arthur Holquin, S.T.L.

Jul 08, 2026

Yesterday, in the upper church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, before some 2,500 of the faithful, Cardinal Robert McElroy ordained two new auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Washington — Gary R. Studniewski and Robert P. Boxie III. The nearly three-hour bilingual liturgy was, quite simply, splendid, and I commend the whole of it to your prayerful viewing.

There is much here to rejoice over. Bishop Studniewski, a native of Toledo ordained for the Archdiocese in 1995, comes to the episcopate after a distinguished career as a chaplain in the United States Army, where he rose to the rank of colonel before serving as a parish pastor here in Washington. Those years accompanying our men and women in uniform — in the field, in the hospital, at the bedside and the graveside — are their own long apprenticeship in the shepherd’s heart, and one senses the fittingness of his chosen motto: “My grace is enough for you.”

And at forty-five, Bishop Boxie becomes the youngest bishop in the United States — and he now stands as one of only two active African American Catholic bishops in the country, one of a mere five Black bishops overall. That a son of Lake Charles, by way of Vanderbilt, Harvard Law, and the chaplaincy at Howard University, should be called to the fullness of Holy Orders is a grace for the whole Church, and a fitting continuation of Washington’s long tradition of Black episcopal leadership.

Cardinal McElroy gave the homily the lovely title “The Joys of a Bishop,” and preached, tenderly, on the truth that even now — when the burdens of the office seem magnified on every side — the episcopate remains at its root a share in the love and the joy of Christ himself: “that my joy may be in you, and your joy may be complete.”

And now, watch closely. [46:00] — just after the hymn to the Holy Spirit and before the homily — the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, rose and read aloud the mandate of the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, appointing each man to the Order of Bishops. The people gave their assent; the bond with the Successor of Peter was made visible and audible for all to see. As both men walk through the People of God, holding aloft the Papal Mandate with the papal seal affixed to it (bulla), the assembly gives their rousing assent!

This is what an authentic papal mandate looks like. Not the counterfeit we witnessed one week earlier, on July 1, in Écône, Switzerland, where four men were consecrated bishops with no mandate read — because none existed — and indeed against the express will of the Holy Father. The very moment you are watching here is precisely the moment that was missing there. Its absence is not a technicality; it is the whole of the matter. To consecrate a bishop without the pontifical mandate is, under canon 1387, to incur ipso facto the excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See — as the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith duly declared on July 2.

Communion with Peter is not the decoration on the rite. It is the rite’s very heart. Yesterday in Washington, that heart was beating, joyfully, in full view. May the Lord grant Bishops Studniewski and Boxie many fruitful years — and may He bring home, in His own time, those who have wandered from the fold.

Monsignor Arthur Holquin, S.T.L.

Responding to AI concerns is a matter of pastoral care

What does it mean to follow Jesus in a divided America? BY BEKAH McNEEL ‘White Poverty: How Exposing Myths About Race and Class Can Reconstruct American Democracy’ BY WILLIAM J. BARBER II

Ensuring access to the polls is a sacred cause BY ADAM RUSSELL TAYLOR

Christians threaten democracy — and can help save it Q&A WITH DAVID P. GUSHEE

‘Healing the Wounds of the Displaced: Pastoral Ministry in Immigrant Churches’

By Francisco Zamora Avila

A pastor offers his reflections on pastoral work in the immigrant community and the need for new ecclesiological models for ministry on the margins. In this excerpt, he writes a letter sharing his personal experience as a formerly undocumented immigrant.

Responding to AI concerns is a matter of pastoral care

By Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes

As with any significant community change, clergy need to support their congregants through the personal, ethical and social implications of AI, writes a pastor who also directs the Technology, Innovation & Digital Engagement Lab at Union Theological Seminary.

Sacred work can’t be measured in social media followers

By Anna Del Castillo

Being truly present, to ourselves and others, can be a struggle when the algorithm pulls away our attention, writes the leader of a nonprofit that focuses on soulful practices.

A recipe for thriving rural congregations despite shifting demographics

By Trisha Wheelock

Faced with declining attendance and aging membership, rural pastors can invite reflection on congregational history and community needs to adapt for new opportunities.

What a silent retreat in the South taught me about community as resistance and strength

By Mallory McDuff

Change can feel like it’s never going to come, writes a professor, until all of a sudden it does.

As America marks its 250th year, the church has a crucial role to play in accurately telling the nation’s story

Q&A with Deon K. Johnson

The Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Missouri’s ministry of writing and sharing daily prayers touches people beyond his parishes, as does his family’s experience of a traumatic year caught up in the federal crackdown on immigrants.

Dorothy Day never spoke of her abortion

Catholic legal aid group for immigrants nears collapse as US withholds funds
Religion News Service: The El Paso Diocese-run nonprofit is one of the largest providers of legal services for unaccompanied children. It says the US is defying a court order.

 

The July 4 white supremacist march exposes an uncomfortable truth about our country
Religion News Service: If we take our nation’s long history of exclusionary politics seriously, it illuminates how white supremacist groups frame themselves as patriots. They believe they are not viruses to the American project, but white blood cells.

 

Dorothy Day never spoke of her abortion*
The Christian Century: A century later, I refuse to stay quiet about mine — despite the Catholic Worker movement’s tradition of silence, Laura Lasuertmer writes.

 

How a 198-year-old New Orleans synagogue became one of America’s fastest-growing Jewish communities*
Forward: A Reform synagogue on the Mardi Gras route — with no dues and fluid denominational lines — is a catalyst for Jewish life after catastrophe

 

What to know about the Society of St. Pius X, the schismatic group excommunicated by the pope
NPR: A group of traditionalists directly defied Pope Leo XIV by ordaining four new bishops without his consent, calling it their “sacred duty” during a ritual-laden ceremony at the society's seminary in the Swiss village of Écône.

Netanyahu claims unnamed Lebanese Christian villages sought annexation

U.S. solicitor general urges Supreme Court to stop Colorado’s exclusion of Catholic preschools

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether Colorado violated the First Amendment by excluding Catholic preschools from its universal preschool program.

China releases detained Christian pastor Ezra Jin Mingri

Jin was arrested by Chinese authorities on Oct. 10, 2025.

Various U.S. bishops ‘invite home’ SSPX attendees after excommunications of leadership

Catholic bishops with Society of St. Pius X locations in their areas are forbidding Catholics from attending SSPX services and urging attendees and SSPX priests to return to the Catholic Church.

Netanyahu claims unnamed Lebanese Christian villages sought annexation

Alberto Fernández, a former U.S. ambassador and contributor to EWTN News, said the prime minister's claim “only makes sense within the context of him trying to look good to his own Israeli audience."

5 Heroes of American Catholicism

Pope Leo XIV prayed with this young man’s rosary in Barcelona — and gave it back Sergi, a young Catalan man, was surprised by an encounter with Pope Leo XIV in Spain on June 10 he will never forget... Read more

5 Heroes of American Catholicism  As the United States celebrates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, American Catholics are able as well to reflect on an important truth... Read more

The Meaning of America’s Consecration to the Sacred Heart  As the United States prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our country, the bishops of the United States... Read more

Fulton Sheen: American Champion of the Sacred Heart Bishop Robert Barron is known for his theological wisdom and his sharp cultural commentary, but jamming folk singer? In a rare video.... Read more

Pope Leo XIV prays for parents who have suffered the loss of a baby Pope Leo XIV assured his prayers “for all parents who suffer the loss of a child, especially a baby,”  Read more

Inside Sagrada Familia: Gaudí's Dream of Heaven’ "Sagrada Familia: The Masterpiece Uniting Heaven and Earth" takes viewers to Barcelona for the historic visit of Pope Leo XIV... Watch

Pray to Venezuela's Patroness Amid Earthquake Devastation: 10 Facts About Our Lady of Coromoto On Wed., June 24, 2026, two powerful earthquakes hit Venezuela within minutes of each other. The disaster has killed over 500 people and wounded thousands more. With the country experiencing such devastation, Catholics must come together and pray for them... Read more

'This Land Belongs to Christ!': 5,000 Catholics Fill Portland's Streets in Massive Eucharistic Procession  More than 5,000 Catholics representing a wide array of ethnic communities gathered on June 7 to accompany the Blessed Sacrament through Portland, Oregon—one of America's least religious cities—in a public act of devotion... Read more