Zenit News Agency


ZENIT is a non-profit news agency that reports on the Catholic Church and matters important to it from the perspective of Catholic doctrine. Its motto is "the world seen from Rome."

Mission

The ZENIT Internet site describes the perspective of the agency as one which is "convinced of the extraordinary richness of the Catholic Church's message, particularly its social doctrine... sees this message as a light for understanding today's world." ZENIT's "compass is the social doctrine of the Church, summarized in the Compendium published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace" of the Holy See.
The name "ZENIT" denotes "zenith" in many languages, being the highest point in the sky that the Sun reaches, which is a symbol associated with Jesus Christ by early Christians.

Presence

ZENIT began publication in 1997 and presently publishes in seven languages. By its own account, ZENIT has 520,000 email subscribers and its articles have been reprinted in more than 100,000 media sources.
A number of Catholic authors, e. g. Christopher West, have cited ZENIT reports in their printed works.

Publisher

According to the ZENIT site, Innovative Media Inc. publishes and edits the publications of the agency, and ZENIT works directly or in collaboration with the following non-profits internationally: Fundación ZENIT España in Spain, Association ZENIT in France, ZENIT eV in Germany, and Asociacao ZENIT in Brazil. Innovative Media Inc. is a non-profit corporation based in New York, United States, according to ZENIT, and is registered as a non-profit organization in Atlanta, Georgia. Its president is Antonio Maza.
ZENIT states that Aid to the Church in Need, the Italian Episcopal Conference, and the Legion of Christ largely funded it during its first three years. As of 2007, ZENIT stated that donations of its readers account for 75% of its funding and donations of institutions and benefactors for 13%. One report in the progressive Commonweal magazine alleges that Innovative Media Inc. is a "front" for the Legion of Christ.