In the early seventh century, the century of Gregory the Great and Maximus the Confessor, the Persian empire, was a mighty power. Persia fought against Byzantium, the continuation of Rome. Byzantium was western in character, Persia was Oriental. Byzantium was Christian, signed with the sign of the Cross. Persia held on to its dualistic Zoroastrian...
Sister Albertine, a youthful French Catholic nun, stood outside the Vatican, phone in hand, ready to shoot more videos for her hundreds of thousands of followers online. The 29-year-old nun, whose secular name is Albertine Debacker, is one of hundreds of Catholic influencers in Rome for a Vatican-organised social media summit this week.
After decades of declining attendance and dwindling faith in much of the Western world, Roman Catholicism could be witnessing an unexpected revival. For a church more known by many in the West for its elderly churchgoers, ageing priests and devastating sexual abuse scandals, the renewal is coming from the unlikeliest of corners: Gen Z.