“We see through new tender verdant pecan leaves”

Today's sources: National Catholic Register, EWTN News, The Pillar, Crux, First Things, Catholic World News, & Aleteia. (Catholic Nutshell is a FREE subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)

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National Catholic Register

Pope Leo XIV: Legacy of fraternity with the Muslim world

By Father Raymond J. de Souza, May 1, 2026

Speaking at the general audience this week about his recent trip to four African nations, Pope Leo XIV began with Algeria, home to sites associated with St. Augustine, which he cited as “the roots of my spiritual identity.” Here he spoke of “crossing and strengthening bridges that are very important for the world and the Church today: the bridge with the very fruitful age of the Fathers of the Church; the bridge with the Islamic world; and the bridge with the African continent.” That “bridge” to the Islamic world — Algeria is a majority Muslim country — was worth noting. Islamist violence against Christians is a pressing problem in parts of Africa, especially Nigeria, the most populous African state. The dominant interreligious file for John Paul II was relations with Jews, which he insisted was not really “inter” religious, but within the same household of faith. As for Islamic relations, in 2001, he became the first pope to enter a mosque, visiting the Great Mosque of Damascus on his visit to Syria.

EWTN News

Court halts mailing of Mifepristone prescriptions nationwide

By Madalaine Elhabbal, May 1, 2026

The panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, will require in-person distribution of Mifepristone at clinics. The ruling found that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation allowing prescriptions for a medication that blocks progesterone without meeting with a physician “undermines” the state of Louisiana. In Louisiana, the state considers unborn children to be human beings from the moment of conception and legal persons. Medication abortions, which rely on mifepristone and misoprostol, accounted for 63% of U.S. abortions in 2023, according to the Guttmacher Institute. The number of actual abortions might be higher due to underreporting, according to the organization, which was affiliated with Planned Parenthood until 2007. Activists, lawmakers, and state attorneys general have been calling on the FDA to do a safety review of the drug, citing severe risks to women’s health.

Related: Appeals court temporarily blocks policy permitting distribution of abortion pill by mail - by Kate Scanlon, OSV News - May 1, 2026

Aleteia

Anthropic AI, ‘Claude,’ asks Catholic voices to weigh in

By Rose Bryan, April 30, 2026

In late March 2026, Anthropic — the San Francisco-based artificial intelligence (AI) company behind the popular chatbot Claude — took an unusual step for Silicon Valley. The firm invited approximately 15 Christian leaders, including Catholics and Protestants, to a private two-day summit at its headquarters. Clergy, theologians, academics, and business professionals gathered to offer guidance not on generic “AI ethics,” but on deeper questions of moral formation and how Claude should respond to profoundly human situations. They sought the Church’s insight into how genuine moral character develops in a person — and how something analogous might be fostered in an AI system. The event seemed a welcome step amid the various missteps AI companies have gotten pushback for. Anthropic, for example, agreed to a $1.5 billion settlement last year in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by a group of authors.

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The Pillar

Baton Rouge whistleblower: Vatican hasn’t responded to his report

By The Pillar, May 1, 2026

The Vatican has not yet responded to a whistleblower complaint in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after local Catholics alleged that diocesan officials did not appropriately address allegations of sexual misconduct against a priest assigned in the diocese, including an alleged admission by the priest of sexual contact with minors — an admission the priest denies. Vos estis lux mundi, the Vatican’s policy on addressing allegations of abuse or neglect of duties by bishops, requires that the dicastery “provid[e] the appropriate instructions on how to proceed in the specific case” within 30 days of receiving a complaint. The man, a frequent parish volunteer and sacristan in his 60s, said that Fr. Charbel Jamhoury, a Lebanese Maronite priest who was then pastor of St. Isidore the Farmer parish in Baker, Louisiana, had spent several months developing a relationship with him, frequently asking for his assistance with projects in the rectory and inviting him for coffee.

OSV News

Archdiocese of New York offering $800 million for abuse claims

By Gina Christian, May 1, 2026

The Archdiocese of New York proposed an $800 million settlement to resolve some 1,300 abuse claims involving clergy and staff brought under lookback laws in that state. If accepted, the settlement would cap a five-year legal battle that has seen the archdiocese sell off property and take insurance giant Chubb to court over coverage for the claims. Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York said the archdiocese and the Plaintiff’s Liaison Committee, the body representing “a majority of victim-survivors,” had been “working hard for several months to reach an agreement on a global settlement of all sex abuse lawsuits.” That effort included the 2024 sale of the archdiocese’s office headquarters, with the Manhattan property acquired by Vanbarton Group, a real estate investment firm, for $100 million. Judge Daniel J. Buckley oversaw the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ $880 million settlement in 2024, the largest of its kind at the time among U.S. Catholic dioceses.

Jerusalem Post

EU condemns Palestinian textbooks: ‘Antisemitism’ and ‘jihad’

By Goldie Katz, Miriam Sela-Eitam, May 2, 2026

The European Union passed several resolutions condemning Palestinian Authority educational materials containing antisemitism and glorification of jihad, the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se) reported on Wednesday. In the EU’s report on discharge in respect of the implementation of the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2024, it called for any future funding to the PA to be conditional on the removal of ”antisemitic content, incitement to violence and the glorification of martyrdom and jihad” from textbooks. The European Parliament noted that “education is a central pillar of peacebuilding, coexistence and preparation for a negotiated two-state solution” as well as a key component in countering radical ideologies, extremism, and intolerance. The EU condemned Palestinian children being exposed to content that encourages antisemitism and includes violence.

Zeale

‘Roe’ overturn attorney wants Catholic witness in the culture

By Elise Winland, May 1, 2026

On the May 1 Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney John Bursch told Zeale News in an interview that Catholics should not separate their professional lives from their faith but bring Christian witness into their ordinary work through prayer, personal example, and one-on-one interactions. Bursch spoke following his appearance on Legatus’ “Eleven Talents” podcast and reflected on his work in major legal battles over abortion, women’s sports, religious liberty, and gender ideology. Many of these legal battles, he said, are part of a broader cultural struggle over the meaning of the human person, the family, and the public witness of faith. Bursch has also been involved in ongoing legal battles over Title IX and women’s sports, including cases from Idaho and West Virginia that reached the Supreme Court. The cases, Little v. Hecox and West Virginia v. B.P.J., ask whether states may limit women’s and girls’ sports to competitors of the same biological sex. The high court is expected to release decisions in June.

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CRUX

A critic of Trump's immigration is now a West Virginia bishop

By John Raby, Giovanna Dell’Orto, AP, May 2, 2026

The next bishop for West Virginia Catholics will be an El Salvador-born advocate for immigrants who has opposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown policies. Pope Leo XIV announced Friday the appointment of Bishop Evelio Menjivar-Ayala, an auxiliary bishop in Washington, D.C., as the new leader of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, which comprises West Virginia, one of the nation’s least racially diverse states. Menjivar-Ayala, 55, fled El Salvador’s civil war as a teen in the late 1980s, eventually crossing illegally into the United States in 1990, he told The Associated Press in an interview last year. But within “a couple of weeks,” he gained humanitarian protection, was later granted a visa as a religious worker, and became a U.S. citizen two decades ago. he feels close to immigrants who have been caught up by raids, including last year’s federal law enforcement surge in Washington, because “that could have been me,” he said in 2025.

EWTN News, aciafrica, & CWR for 4/2/26

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — May 2, 2026

EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, with updates on the Holy Father's words and the Holy See.

• Toronto Catholic conference to explore breakdown of the social covenant - By Canadian Catholic News - Canada Catholic Conscience is launching a new annual conference, “Building a Culture of Life and Dignity,” with its inaugural 2026 gathering set to tackle one of the deepest problems in contemporary society: the breakdown of our shared social covenant and the erosion of human dignity from conception to natural death.

• 22 miles of faith: Catholic family of 10 turns ‘Walk to Mary’ pilgrimage into a tradition - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - This year, an Illinois family will make the entire 22-mile trek to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Wisconsin, which honors the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States.

• Former federal prosecutor: ‘I’d like to prosecute any nun who still wears the head habit’ - By Tyler Arnold - Text messages released by the Senate Judiciary Committee show two former federal prosecutors discussing desires to prosecute nuns during investigations of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

aciafrica

aciafrica’s top headlines — May 2, 2026

ACI Africa was founded in 2019 to provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, with particular emphasis on the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See.

• “Community remains in shock”: Catholic Bishop After Terrorists Set Ablaze Historic Parish in Mozambique - May 1, 2026 - By João Vissesse - The Bishop of Mozambique’s Catholic Diocese of Pemba has expressed sorrow following a terrorist attack that destroyed the historic St. Louis de Montfort Parish in Cabo Delgado Province.

• Church Must Proclaim Truth Without Imposing Itself, Pope Leo XIV Says - May 1, 2026 - By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú - The pontiff told a delegation from the Archdiocese of Cologne that dialogue “strengthens communion” and “serves the cause of peace.”

• Catholic Sister Encourages Full Transition to Renewable Energy at “We Pay, They Profit” Campaign Launch in Kenya - Apr 30, 2026 - By ACI Africa Staff - The Executive Director of the Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation Franciscans Africa (JPIC-FA) has proposed a full transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy to address poverty in Kenya.

Catholic World Report

CWR’s Columns, Analysis, & Features

Catholic World Report is a free online magazine that examines the news from a faithful Catholic perspective.

Is the Church dying or reviving? - David Paul Deavel - April 30, 2026 - What is going on in the Church in America? Is she singing a swan song, or is she rising again from the ashes like the legendary phoenix? The Dubuque diocese, which counts around 182,000 Catholics, has announced that its current 163 parishes will be reorganized into 24 “pastorates.” Practically speaking, there will be no regular Masses at 84 of the parishes.

Sex and the Unity of the Catholic Church - Monica Migliorino Miller - April 29, 2026 31 - Faced with a German Church that may be, at this point, a schismatic ecclesial body, Pope Leo XIV made remarks on April 22nd that stirred controversy and debate.

The SSPX is now on a clear and direct collision course with Rome - Larry Chapp - April 28, 2026 - The Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Fr. Davide Pagliarani, has recently given a lengthy interview in which he lays out his case for why the Society is justified in defying the Vatican.

Nutshell reflections for 5/2/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection: AUDIO - May 2, 2026

Memorial of Saint Athanasius, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

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Catholic Stand

Teach your children (or grandchildren) humility

By Dan Fitzpatrick, May 2, 2026

Many adults say today’s children and young adults are the me-generation, the selfie-generation, or the narcissistic-generation. But it is today’s parents who bear the blame for this. Modern culture has conditioned young people to believe that “everybody deserves a trophy.” As such, many in this age group wrongly assume that they are the most important people in the world. Humility is something that most everyone thinks they have, but most likely, most of us do not. Taking nonstop selfies and constantly posting them on social media is either a sign of a presumptuous, arrogant person or of someone desperate for attention. We should feel sympathy for the second type of individual, but the first type is not displaying any humility. Never before have so many American parents spent so much money on extravagant children’s birthday parties. “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalms 34:1-4)

Here’s the thing

I know Jesus is here

By Ava Frecker, April 21, 2026

Sometime during the early months of dating my husband, I remember telling him how excited I was to be a mother one day. There was a deep ache inside of me to hold another soul. Despite moments of trying to grasp the reality that there was another immortal soul within me, it was easy to question whether it was true or not. Even though I knew our baby was there, I didn’t feel he or she was there. Unlike many women who are educated about pregnancy and birth through poorly taught health classes and extreme representations in the media, I didn’t fear the idea of pregnancy and birth; my parents gifted me with a reverence for both. I imagined and looked forward to the emotions of excitement, closeness, and joyous anticipation I expected to feel when carrying a precious child within me. Everything I know supports my belief in Christ’s presence in the Eucharist, yet he remains veiled to me. Like my baby, I know Jesus is there, but I don’t feel his presence. And that’s OK.

First Things

The SPLC got into America’s classrooms

By Mark Bauerlein, May 1, 2025

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has been indicted for a variety of crimes. To laymen, the allegation is that the organization has been paying hate groups to engage in hate and broadcast their hate so that the organization can cast itself as a champion of anti-hate and fundraise. The charges will play out in the courts in one way or another. But battling bigots and haters isn’t the only activity of the SPLC. It’s a multimillion-dollar operation with many legs, one of which reaches into American classrooms. The Inclusive Curriculum Law mandated that by the end of eighth grade, students will have been taught about the contributions of LGBTQ individuals to U.S. and Illinois history. It seeks to “educat[e] for liberation” and insists that “white supremacy and racism” continue to perpetuate harm. Kurtz calls the entire project (and others like it) a “veritable festival of woke.” Illinois isn’t the only state. Connecticut adopted Learning for Justice materials in several public school systems.

The Catholic Thing

Social thought draws between doctrines and principles

By Luis E. Lugo, May 2, 2026

As Pope Leo has encouraged us to do, I have been revisiting the documents of Vatican II. One major takeaway from that treasure trove of Christian teaching is the clear distinction modern Catholic social thought draws between doctrines and principles, on the one hand, and their prudential application in particular cases, on the other. It’s clear from the documents that when our pastors articulate and defend foundational social principles, they do so with the full authority of their office. Catholics are placed in a difficult situation, however, when our spiritual leaders publicly voice their views regarding the specific applications of those principles. Should the faithful consider these pronouncements as authoritative or simply as personal opinions, with which they might legitimately disagree? The virtue of prudence plays such a prominent role in these decisions. It’s also why the Church emphasizes the indispensable role of the laity, especially those with the requisite knowledge and skills, in making these determinations.

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Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."

Today's sources: National Catholic Register, EWTN News, OSV News, CatholicVote, Zeale, Bishop Barron, & Aleteia. (Catholic Nutshell is a FREE subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)

Please support the following Catholic news services and spiritual support sites. Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

CatholicVote

Egyptian court: No to Easter Sunday as a national holiday

By Hannah Hiester, May 1, 2026

An Egyptian court recently refused to rule on a petition seeking to establish Easter as a national holiday and to grant Christians the right to celebrate the solemnity without penalty. Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International stated in a press release that Sunday is considered a standard working day in Egypt, causing Christians who observe Easter to miss work and school obligations and face penalties such as loss of pay, workplace discrimination, and academic consequences for absences. The court said the petition did not fall within its jurisdiction and that it must instead be decided by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly. Kelsey Zorzi, ADF International’s director of advocacy for global religious freedom, stated in the release that the court’s refusal to take the case “leaves Christians in Egypt unable to worship freely and without fear of penalty or discrimination on the most sacred day of their faith.” Coptic Christians make up a significant part of Egypt’s population, with Muslims constituting the majority.

OSV News

How soon to perform penance after Confession?

By Jenna Marie Cooper, May 1, 2026

You don’t do anything wrong by receiving holy Communion before completing your penance, even for mortal sins. The Church does not strictly require us to confess merely venial sins before receiving Communion — and, in fact, a devout reception of holy Communion can, by itself, forgive our venial sins (See the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1394). Sacramental forgiveness of sins takes place as soon as the priest prays the words of absolution, and the validity of the sacrament is not dependent on the penitent completing his or her assigned penance. Still, penance after confession is optional. Canon 981 of the Code of Canon Law explains the confessor’s obligation to impose penances that are proportionate to the severity of the sins confessed and truly appropriate for the penitent’s life circumstances. Canon 981 doesn’t specify a timeframe for completing penances.

Related: Catholics No Longer Go to Confession, Even Though They Desire It. Recent Study Reveals Why - Only 23% of Catholics go to Confession at least once a year, By Zenit Staff, April 29, 20026

Aleteia

Saints who battled mental illness

By Meg Hunter-Kilmer, October 10, 2025

With the stigma surrounding mental illness, many Christians feel quite sure that their mental health struggles are a result of their own sin, calling depression a “failure to hope” and insisting that mental illness can be prayed away. Mercifully, this is not the Catholic position. The Church understands that health struggles have many causes, that treatments like therapy and medication are often necessary, and that those who suffer aren’t in any way less holy than those who don’t. This is true of mental health as well as physical. St. Oscar Romero (1917-1980) struggled with scrupulosity his whole life, but when he was 49, a psychiatrist diagnosed him with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Already a priest, Romero had the humility to undergo psychoanalysis and seek counseling at a time when mental illness was spoken of only in hushed voices. Venerable Rutilio Grande (1928-1977) struggled with mental illness throughout his formation. Bl. Enrico Rebuschini (1860-1937), an Italian Camillian priest, lived with depression all his life.

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National Catholic Register

Catholic ‘revival’ may be leaving the working class behind

By Luke Larson, April 30, 2026

Conversions to Catholicism have been increasing, and the wider culture is taking notice. While it is certainly encouraging that the Church is growing in big cities, major universities, and elite circles, what about working-class, blue-collar folks? Are they also experiencing an uptick in conversions and Mass attendance? The answer, according to both researchers and those serving these communities, is No. Contrary to common assumptions, the general trend in America is that the less education a person has, the less likely they are to attend church weekly. As a whole, those in the working-class demographic are less engaged in faith and more susceptible to the trend of institutional religious disaffiliation. “This is a bougie revival; it’s very much an elite discourse revival,” he told the Register. “People who are most likely to go to church this Sunday will be people with graduate degrees. And least likely are those who didn’t finish high school.”

EWTN News

U.S. bishops urge Congress to reject IVF mandate

By Tyler Arnold, April 30, 2026

Catholic bishops are asking lawmakers to reject legislation that would mandate insurance coverage of in vitro fertilization (IVF), a fertility treatment that violates Catholic teachings on life and human reproduction. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) sent a letter on April 29 with concerns over bill (H.R. 8119) sponsored by Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa —Helping to Optimize Patients’ Experience (HOPE) with Fertility Services Act. Eighteen Republicans and Democrats support the act. Insurance companies would face civil penalties of $100 per day if they exclude coverage of IVF. The text does not offer exemptions for religious employers, even though IVF is opposed by both the USCCB and the Southern Baptist Convention. The bishops express concern about the loss of embryonic human life integral to the IVF process. It “represents a relatively unregulated industry that creates hundreds of thousands or even millions of preborn children who will be interminably frozen, expended in attempts to place them within a mother, or discarded and killed (often in a selective, eugenic manner).”

The Pillar

Suspicious Vatican financial reports rose in 2025

By Luke Coppen, April 30, 2026

The Vatican’s financial watchdog, the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF), announced Thursday in its annual report that it saw an increase in suspicious activity reports in 2025. ASIF detailed 78 reports of suspicious activities in 2025, 73 of which came from the Institute for the Works of Religion, or IOR, the only financial institution under its direct supervision. ASIF argued that the overall quality of the reports remained high, as a stable proportion of around 20% were sent on to the Vatican City State’s Office of the Promoter of Justice. In 2025, 16 reports were forwarded to the office, up from 11 the year before. The new report said the level of suspicious activity reports in 2025 was “in line with expectations and the trend of the previous years.” When Jean-Baptiste de Franssu arrived as president in 2014, the IOR had lost almost 150 million euros. Angelo Caloia, who led the institution from 1989 to 2009, was ultimately sentenced in 2021 to nine years in prison for money laundering and embezzlement.

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CRUX

Faith in Housing bill crosses finish line in Virginia

By Emily Leayman/ ARLnow, AP, May 1, 2026

The “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement is celebrating after the Faith in Housing bill in Virginia, supporting expedited church-based affordable housing development, was signed into law. Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) signed state Sen. Jeremy McPike (D-29)’s SB 388 and Del. Joshua Cole (D-65)’s HB 1279, which will eliminate the rezoning step for faith-based organizations and other tax-exempt nonprofits to develop affordable housing on their properties. The law will take effect on Jan. 1, 2027, and will sunset on Jan. 1, 2031, unless reenacted by a future General Assembly. Jessica Sarriot, co-executive director of Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE), said the coalition is “thrilled” to see Faith in Housing let churches serve their neighbors with affordable homes. “For us, this is a huge step forward in addressing a housing shortage where Virginia is missing over 300,000 homes,” Sarriot told ARLnow.

Zenit News

Analysis of the Catholic Church in China

By Zenit Staff, April 29, 2026

The noose is tightening around China’s Catholics who refuse to bow to Beijing. Despite a rapprochement with the Holy See in 2018, which conceded the appointment of Bishops to the Chinese state with formal Vatican approval, their situation is grimmer than ever, with no improvement for China’s 12 million or so Catholics. According to Yalkun Uluyol of Human Rights Watch (HRW), in his latest report, China’s clandestine Catholic faithful are under more pressure than ever to sign up to Beijing’s “Sinicized” version of their faith. “A decade into Xi Jinping’s Sinicization campaign and nearly eight years since the 2018 Holy See-China agreement, Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” he said. He has urged Pope Leo XIV to “urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshipers.”

Big Pulpit, EWTN News & Loop for 5/1/26

Big Pulpit

Tito Edwards Catholic site: May 1, 2026

The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.

• What the Life of a Hidden Convent Actually Looks Like – Jeffrey Bruno at Words & Pictures

• Rare Video Footage of St. Maximilian Kolbe – Hillbilly Catholic on X

• Vatican Prepares Pope Leo XIV Summit On Marriage Crisis – National Catholic Register

• A Compendium of Catholic Books for Converts, Seekers, & the Newly Curious – A. McGuire at TCA

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — May 1, 2026

EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, with updates on the Holy Father's words and the Holy See.

• London Marathon winner Sabastian Sawe ‘never misses Mass’ - By Agnes Aineah - Before Sabastian Sawe traveled to London for the Sunday, April 26, marathon in which he would emerge the winner, the young athlete attended Mass at Holy Family Catholic Church, an outstation of St. Josephine Bakhita Lower Moiben Parish in Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Eldoret.

• Here’s why the month of May is dedicated to the Virgin Mary - By ACI Prensa - The Catholic Church dedicates the entire month of May to the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of God and spiritual mother of all. Mary, the most humble of all women, is a model for everyone today, in the here and now. She is, in a particular way, a model for every woman, as expressed by Pope Francis.

• Vatican revokes multiple parish fund transfers in Buffalo Diocese amid disputed merger plan - By Daniel Payne - Save Our Buffalo Churches said in an April 30 press release that the Dicastery for the Clergy had revoked multiple “assessment allocation decrees” levied by Bishop Michael Fisher amid the diocesan “Road to Renewal” plan.

Zeale / Loop / CatholicVote

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DOJ REPORT OUTLINES MASSIVE DISCRIMINATION UNDER BIDEN - The Biden administration discriminated against Christians on a massive scale, targeting them everywhere from their churches to their workplaces, the Justice Department reports. The Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias found the Biden administration “generally tolerated religious beliefs that were privately held but zealously pursued actions to limit Christians’ ability to act in accordance with their faith.” READ

DEM SENATOR MOVES TO TORPEDO SCHOOL CHOICE TAX CREDIT - Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has introduced legislation to repeal the federal school-choice tax credit created under President Donald Trump’s 2025 “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act. Kelly claimed the credit takes money out of public schools, but school choice advocates pointed out that the program relies on voluntary private donations, not public school funds. READ

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO LIMIT BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP? -Republican Sen. Rand Paul introduced a joint resolution yesterday proposing a constitutional amendment to restrict birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment. The amendment would limit automatic U.S. citizenship for children born in the country, making only those with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or an active-duty member of the military eligible. READ

Nutshell reflections for 5/1/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection: AUDIO - May 1, 2026

Friday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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Catholic365

Kill or drastically amend Colorado House bill HB26-1335

By Lloyd Benes, April 30, 2026

Colorado House Bill HB26-1335 (Abortion Medication Access on College Campuses) would require the 32 Colorado colleges with student health facilities to dispense abortion-inducing drugs. If a campus has a pharmacy, it must stock and dispense them. Sponsors and Democratic committee members argued that the bill implements Colorado's Amendment 79 by increasing abortion access. Amendment 79 states: “The right to abortion is hereby recognized.” Patty McKernon highlighted this inconsistency: “I hear you say we need to provide access to constitutional rights. It’s constitutional to own firearms. Given that, should we mandate putting gun stores on campuses?” Nancy Eason noted the bill does not require campus clinics to provide informed consent. A study of over 865,000 Mifepristone abortions found that 1 in 9 women experienced serious complications like hemorrhaging, sepsis, and emergency room visits within 45 days of Mifepristone.

Catholic Weekly

Truth-seeking led 12-year-old Christopher to the Catholic Church

By Christina Guzman, April 24, 2026

Despite having grown up in a non-religious household, Christopher held a belief in God as his default position. Having been named by his grandmother, who wanted him to have a saint’s name, the Sydney teenager seemed destined for a relationship with God one day. “I had scripture classes in school, and I believed that Jesus was God,” he told The Catholic Weekly. “But it wasn’t something I thought about a lot; it was just how things were, because I hadn’t been exposed to anything else.” However, at 12, Christopher began asking deeper questions — one of which led him to embark on rigorous research into the theology and philosophy of different faiths, including Catholicism. “What is the true God? Do I have the right idea of him? It was something I thought about whenever I had the chance, so I’d look into it bit by bit,” he said. “I looked into the apostles and early church history. Then I realized the truth about the Eucharist and looked at chapter 6 of St John’s Gospel. I saw that the Eucharist was clearly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. So it was like, okay, I need to find a church that has this.”

Aleteia

At 95, Irish twins celebrate 70 years of priesthood

By Cerith Gardiner, April 30, 2026

People often joke that twins mean double the trouble, but Fr. Joe and Fr. Matt Kelly offer something rather different: double the devotion. Born together, ordained together, and now celebrating 70 years as priests, their shared story carries a charm all of its own. The Irish twin brothers have recently marked not only their 95th birthday, but also the platinum jubilee of their ordination, celebrating seven decades since they entered the diocesan priesthood in 1956. It is the sort of milestone that makes one pause, partly because twin brothers becoming priests is rare enough, and partly because, once again, the clergy seems to be making a rather persuasive case for longevity. As we’ve often reported, nuns frequently make headlines for reaching remarkable ages, but clearly men of the cloth are doing rather well, too.

Bishop Barron

‘I am the way’

By Bishop Robert Barron, May 1, 2026

Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” Either Jesus is who he says he is (in which case we are obliged to give our whole lives to him), or he is a madman (in which case we should be against him). What does not remain, as C. S. Lewis saw so clearly, is the bland middle position that, though he isn’t divine, he is a good, kind, and wise ethical teacher. If he isn’t who he says he is, then he isn’t admirable at all. Thus, Jesus compels a choice in a manner that no other religious founder does. The Buddha could claim to have found a way he wanted to share with his followers, but Jesus said, “I am the way.” Muhammad could say that, through him, the final divine truth had been communicated to the world, but Jesus said, “I am the truth.” Confucius could maintain that he had discovered a new and uplifting form of life, but Jesus said, “I am the life.” And thus, we are either with Jesus or we are against him. No other founder forces that choice as clearly as Jesus does.

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Today's sources include Aleteia, EWTN News, National Catholic Register, The Pillar, CatholicVote, John Eldredge, and ChurchPOP. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)

Please support the following Catholic (and Catholic-friendly) news services and spiritual support sites. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

CatholicVote

Busyness is a sign against holiness

By Hannah Hiester, April 24, 2026

In a modern world fueled by frenzied schedules, filled calendars, and constant busyness, the founder of a Catholic planner proposes restoring the meaning of time to its original roots: a temporary gift from God, oriented around Sundays, that is meant to be used for the sanctification of man. Catholic convert Nathan Meffert created the Saintmaker planner not only to bring order to his life but also to measure and promote spiritual growth. If using planners and calendars results in a mindset of controlling time or “trying to wrestle it to the ground and then tell it what to do,” he said, the risk becomes that the God-given gift of time is being manipulated or rejected. Even though planners are often used to boost productivity, Meffert said he doesn't think being productive is a Catholic mindset. “There’s nothing virtuous about being constantly busy … In fact, many of the saints would say that busyness is exactly a sign against holiness.”

Religion News Service

Declaration of Independence had religious dividing points

By Thomas Tweed, April 27, 2026

On the Fourth of July 1776, congressional delegates in Philadelphia adopted the Declaration of Independence, then ordered that it be widely “proclaimed.” Couriers carried the printed version by stagecoach and horseback to every colony, where officials posted it, and newspapers circulated it. But the declaration was meant to be read aloud. Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft has marks indicating where the reader should pause briefly or for longer. And there were ceremonial public readings: first in Philadelphia and then in town squares, courthouses, churches, and taverns up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Not everyone listening would have agreed with the declaration, and religion was one of the dividing points. Loyalists who sided with England and the official Church of England dissented on both spiritual and political grounds. Two-thirds of its ministers left for England after the Revolution began. Members of historic pacifist churches, such as the Quakers, the Mennonites, and the Brethren, faced tough choices after hearing the declaration’s call to arms.

Crux

Bishop crashed a laity meeting held for Neocatechumenal Way

By Charles Collins, April 30, 2026

Tensions are rising in the Diocese of Las Cruces, New Mexico, over the introduction of the Neocatechumenal Way, a global movement founded in 1964 that forms small parish-based communities and claims one million members worldwide. A confrontation occurred Sept. 24, 2025, at a privately rented hall, where Bishop Peter Baldacchino and his vicar general, Father Kevin Waymel, arrived unannounced and became involved in a dispute over how the meeting should proceed. While its supporters praise the movement, critics say it divides parishes, a claim denied by defenders. It has even faced restrictions and bans in countries such as Japan, the Philippines, Nepal, and parts of the Americas. The group Voice of the Laity in Las Cruces is concerned about how the movement is being implemented locally. They say repeated attempts to speak with their bishop, Maltese-born Peter Baldacchino, have gone unanswered, prompting them to organize informational events and invite speakers to learn more about the movement.

Related: What is the Neocatechumenal Way? - Apr 30, Crux Now Staff

The Pillar

Historic parish welcomes MLB neighbor, literally next door

By JD Flynn and Jack Figge, April 30, 2026

Days before an MLB team unveiled plans for a new Royals stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, the team’s owner called the local bishop. He wasn’t looking for a blessing or advice; rather, he wanted to invite the prelate to the press conference. Bishop James Vann Johnston of Kansas City-St. Joseph was a bit confused. Why did the Kansas City Royals want a Catholic bishop at a stadium announcement? That’s when team owner John Sherman explained there had been some changes to the proposed stadium’s location. Our Lady of Sorrows, a historic Kansas City parish, knew it would be a neighbor to the stadium, originally a mile away. In the new plans, the home plate will sit only a hundred yards from the church tower. In renderings Johnston saw, “the edge of the stadium is in the parking lot of the church! The stadium is literally feet from the church.” Johnston said, seeing an opportunity. “We want people to make the parish a part of their game day experience.”

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Aleteia

‘Archdiocese of Roblox’ brings digital twist to evangelization

By Rose Bryan, April 30, 2025

Sometimes faith is found in the most unexpected places, giving the Gospel a chance to reach people who might not have been expecting it. One of those places is the virtual world of Roblox. The “Archdiocese of Roblox” is one of the most active communities on the popular game platform. It is a role-playing group with thousands of members who simulate Catholic life. With over 8,000 members in its Roblox group and more than 3,300 in its associated Discord server, the community continues to grow, extending its reach through YouTube, X, Instagram, and TikTok. From the outset, the group is clear about its nature and purpose. A prominent notice states that “all virtual Sacraments are invalid in real life,” underscoring that the experience is strictly role-play. Its stated goal is not to replace the Church’s sacramental life, but “to spark meditation and inspire players to receive the Sacraments in real life.”

Angelus News

NJ pregnancy centers can challenge state probe in federal court

By Kate Scanlon | OSV News, April 29, 2026

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled April 29 that a group of faith-based pregnancy centers in New Jersey can challenge in federal court an investigation by that state’s attorney general alleging they misled people about their services and seeking information about their donors. First Choice Women’s Resource Centers operates five centers in the Garden State that provide some medical services, including ultrasounds, to women experiencing unplanned pregnancies. They argued that an investigation by then-New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, a Democrat, that sought information about their donor communication infringed on their First Amendment rights. Platkin, who left office earlier this year, moved to investigate First Choice in 2023, alleging the centers misrepresented themselves to clients as if their services included referrals for abortion.

Related: U.S. Supreme Court Allows Faith-Based Pregnancy Center to Challenge Donor Subpoena - EWTN News Staff, April 29, 2026

National Catholic Register

Peter’s Pence lawsuit puts religious liberty in the crosshairs

By Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer, April 29, 2026

A lawsuit now making its way toward the Supreme Court raises questions that reach far beyond the courtroom. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops v. O’Connell concerns a Rhode Island parishioner who claims he was misled about how his Peter’s Pence donation would be used and who is seeking to hold the bishops’ conference legally accountable for what was said from the pulpit during Sunday Mass. For Catholics in the pews, this case is not merely a legal curiosity. It touches the very heart of how we understand our faith, our Church, and the sacred act of giving. David O’Connell donated to Peter’s Pence, the annual offering to the Holy Father that dates back over a millennium. He later alleged that a significant portion of those funds was directed not to emergency relief for the poor and disaster-stricken, but to investments in luxury real estate and Hollywood film productions. He sued the USCCB for fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of fiduciary duty.

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EWTN News

DOJ report on eradicating anti-Christian bias in federal government

By Tyler Arnold, April 30, 2026

The Department of Justice (DOJ) released a new report on April 30 detailing allegations of anti-Christian bias from former President Joe Biden’s administration and unveiling how President Donald Trump’s administration is working to reverse those policies. “When Christian beliefs about morality and human nature conflicted with the Biden administration’s views, religious rights often suffered,” the executive summary says. “The Biden administration generally tolerated religious beliefs that were privately held but zealously pursued actions to limit Christians’ ability to act in accordance with their faith,” the report says. “This affected matters of deep personal importance to nearly every American: life, family, marriage, and self-identity.” The report, titled “Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias within the Federal Government,” was issued by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, which Trump established in February 2025.

OSV & EWTN News, with ChurchPOP for 4/30/26

OSV News

OSV’s seasoned reporters - April 30, 2026

OSV News — information service and evangelization partner that enables dioceses to connect and boost engagement with the faithful by sharing timely, trustworthy, and accurate content about what is happening in the Church and the world.

• Maryland's top court says names in Archdiocese of Baltimore abuse inquiry can’t be released - April 29, 2026 - Maryland’s top court has ruled that state’s attorney general cannot disclose the names of Archdiocese of Baltimore clergy and staff appearing in a grand jury investigation of alleged sexual abuse that have not been charged with any crimes.

• Supreme Court hears arguments in Trump effort to end temporary protections for Haitians, Syrians - April 29, 2026 - A ruling in the case could have far-reaching implications for those who hold TPS status, including 350,000 Haitians, typically a Catholic population, who are living and working in the U.S. legally under the program. About 1.3 million people from 17 countries in total hold TPS status.

• One of 4 asteroids named for Pope Leo XIII by Vatican astronomers -April 29, 2026 - The Pope Leo XIII asteroid is one of four discovered by Lithuanian astronomer Kazimieras Cernis and Jesuit Father Richard P. Boyle, a Vatican Observatory astronomer. The pair detected the bodies using the Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope, or VATT, on Mount Graham, Arizona.

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 30, 2026

EWTN provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• EWTN to release documentary highlighting Pope Leo XIV’s time in Peru - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - Jonathan Liedl, managing editor of the National Catholic Register, takes viewers to northern Peru to explore the communities the Holy Father served. Cities include Chulucanas, where the then-young priest had his first missionary experience; Trujillo, where he grew as a pastor; and the Diocese of Chiclayo, where he served as bishop.

• Exorcists praise Pope Leo’s courage, propose spiritual means to achieve peace - By Walter Sánchez Silva - “In light of the dramatic global events currently unfolding, Pope Leo XIV, following in the footsteps of his predecessors, stands out for his firm condemnation of all war and his heartfelt appeals for dialogue,” the exorcists declared in an Italian-language statement titled “The Courage of Pope Leo.”

• Archdiocese of Atlanta launches online high school program - By Kate Quiñones - The fully online high school program, known as Sacred Heart Virtual Academy, is designed to expand access to Catholic education throughout Georgia and beyond. Enrollment is currently open for students in grades 9–12, both inside and outside of the Archdiocese of Atlanta, including those living in other states or countries.

ChurchPOP Trending

ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - April 30, 2026

“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”

Stressed or Anxious? 7 ‘Punchy’ Catholic Prayers We Need to Bring Back in Difficult Moments - We need to bring these beautiful prayers back to daily life! Cardinal Dolan recommends these seven quick aspirations to help Catholics.

Bachelor Parties Were Holy? The Forgotten Catholic Origins of the Ancient Tradition - Did you know the Bachelor party actually has holy origins? Here’s the story behind this ancient Catholic tradition.

The 3 Symbols Hidden in the Sign of the Cross: Father Mike Schmitz Breaks It Down - “The devils tremble at the Sign of the Cross of Our Lord, by which He triumphed over and disarmed them.” - Saint Anthony the Abbot

Nutshell reflections for 4/30/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection - VIDEO - April 30, 2026

Thursday of the Fourth Week of Easter

Church Life Journal

Upcoming: Pope Leo XIV’s first social encyclical

By Sally Scholz, April 24, 2026

Significant portions of the Catholic world eagerly await the first encyclical from Pope Leo XIV. How will Leo define his papacy? What topics will take priority? And what sort of message will he give to the world? Pope Leo XIV’s anticipated social encyclical is expected to address the challenges of artificial intelligence. An “encyclical” is a letter from a pope to all people of goodwill that addresses social, moral, or doctrinal teachings. Encyclicals offer guidance and motivation to inspire people. Social encyclicals, which constitute Catholic Social Teaching (CST), address pressing social issues through papal interventions in public debate. Theologians often describe social encyclicals as an opportunity for the pope to reflect on the “signs of the times” through the lens of the Catholic intellectual tradition and the moral principles that animate CST. Ultimately, those principles are rooted in the gospel message of love.

ZENIT

125 Years of Jakarta Cathedral, now tunnels to a Mosque

By ZENIT Staff, April 29, 2026

On April 21, the Archdiocese of Jakarta commemorated the 125th anniversary of the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption with a solemn Mass and several commemorative events. Its design is attributed to the Dutch Jesuit Antonius Dijkmans. The Neo-Gothic Cathedral stands opposite the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta. It serves not only as a place of worship but also as a symbol of religious harmony and the country’s cultural heritage. Designed by the Jesuit priest and architect Antonius Dijkmans and built by Marius Hulswit, it was founded in 1899 and solemnly blessed in 1901. More than a century later, it remains the spiritual heart of Catholic life in Indonesia’s capital. In 2020, a tunnel project was approved connecting the largest mosque in Southeast Asia, the Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Jakarta, and the Cathedral.

Providence

‘Civilizational state’ is rhetoric to legitimize human rights violations

By Pranay Kumar Shome, April 29, 2026

The very idea of the nation-state has become a flashpoint with so-called “civilizational states,” including authoritarian examples such as Iran and China, to democratic variants like India. In the case of the Islamic Republic, amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, Iran has rhetorically framed its defense against the United States of America and Israel as a form of “civilizational resistance.” This resistance, Iran asserts, is rooted in more than three thousand years of history, dating back to Zoroastrianism, founded by the prophet Zarathustra in the 6^th century BC. And yet, on an ideological level, Iran's invocation of “civilizational resistance” is part of a broader trend in which other “civilizational states” are challenging the universalism of the established normative frameworks of modernity. Iran, China, Türkiye, etc., invoke the “civilizational state” tag to justify their policies in opposition to Western influence around democracy, human rights, and anything else that would cause authoritarians consternation.

Wild at Heart

Consecrate the process of decision-making

By John Eldredge, April 30, 2026

How to pray for guidance. First off, do whatever you can to reduce the pressure. Pressure is a killer; it nearly always gets in the way of hearing from God. As best you can, lay down the pressure as you seek guidance. Drama never helps; stress never helps. Give the search some breathing room. Take a deep breath yourself.
Second, be open to whatever it may be that God has to say to you. If you are, in truth, only open to hearing one answer from God—yes, you should buy that house—then it’s not likely you will hear anything at all. More sadly, if you do hear a “yes,” you won’t be able to trust it. Surrender is the key. Yield your desires and plans and hunches to the living God, so that you might receive from him something far better: his counsel. Consecrate the matter; consecrate the process of decision-making, too! Third, do not fill in the blanks! Do not spend half your energy trying to figure it out while you are giving the other half to seeking God. You do not want to “walk in the light of your own fires!”

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Catholic Nutshell News is a subscription service hosted by SubStack. Get up to a dozen recent articles, Monday through Saturday, to review regarding newsworthy issues. An easy way to browse top Catholic news and information services on the net. Edited by John Pearring.

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Unless otherwise noted, the bible references linked in the posts are from the USCCB website online publication of the Books of the Bible.

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Today's sources are the CRUX, National Catholic Register, Vatican News, The Pillar, Aleteia, and EWTN News. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)

Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

The Pillar

Brazil has a Catholic ‘data center’ — the US probably won’t

By JD Flynn, April 27, 2026

The Brazilian bishops’ conference last week approved the creation of a national data center to facilitate information sharing among the country’s dioceses and to make information on the status of the nation’s clerics available to both Church officials and the public. While clerics and Church leaders in the U.S. have called for a similar system to make ministry easier, a system like Brazil’s Catholic Church Data Center is unlikely to be established soon in the United States, despite available technology and widespread calls for changes to current systems for sharing information about clerics. Brazilian bishops agreed in the face of declining Catholic identity in the country, where Protestants are projected to outnumber Catholics by 2030, and a growing number of people say they have no religion at all. There is a lot of information that flows between dioceses on a daily basis — premarital inventories and marriage files, information about religious institutes and clerics, and other processes in the life of the Church. The U.S. bishops use the postal service, with paper sent back and forth between diocesan chanceries.

OSV News

US & Japanese bishops warn 9 nuclear powers are killing treaty

By Gina Christian, April 28, 2026

Several U.S. and Japanese Catholic bishops seeking nuclear disarmament are expressing both urgency and wariness, as the United Nations hosts a conference on a non-proliferation treaty at a time when the U.N. head himself admits “arms control is dying.” In an April 27 statement, the archbishops of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and Seattle joined their fellow bishops from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, in warning that as “nuclear threats are escalating,” the world is “sliding backward with massive modernization programs to keep nuclear weapons forever.” The bishops’ message comes at the opening of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which is taking place April 27-May 22 at U.N. headquarters in New York. “Our four dioceses represent the birthplace of nuclear weapons, the most deployed nuclear weapons in the United States, and the only two cities that to date have suffered atomic bombings,” they said.

National Catholic Register

Pope Leo XIV: The end of the pragmatic approach

By Andrea Gagliarducci, April 29, 2026

The press conference on the plane returning from Africa provided the first sign of Leo XIV’s notable break with Pope Francis’ pontificate. When asked specifically about the decision of Cardinal Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, to formally bless same-sex couples, Leo XIV said the Holy See had already informed the German bishops that it did not agree with “the formal blessing of couples — in this case, same-sex couples as requested — or of couples in irregular situations, beyond what Pope Francis has specifically permitted, saying that all persons should receive the blessing.” Leo went further. “When a priest gives the blessing at the end of Mass,” he said, “when the Pope gives the blessing at the end of a great celebration like the one we had today, there are blessings for all people.” “To go beyond this today,” Leo said, “could cause more disunity than unity,” adding “that we should seek to build our unity on Jesus Christ and on what Jesus Christ teaches.”

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CatholicVote/Zeale

Fired teacher challenges Georgia Catholic school’s ‘Catholicism’

By Hannah Hiester, April 27, 2026

A non-Catholic teacher at a Catholic school in the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia, has filed a lawsuit alleging she was wrongfully terminated, arguing the diocese cannot claim protection under the “ministerial exception” of employment law because she was not required to integrate Church teachings into her lessons and finds Catholicism “offensive.” According to court documents, Keshel Coates taught first-grade classes at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Macon for two years beginning in 2022. During her interview, she was told that she would need to take her class to Mass once a week and monitor their behavior. Coates alleged discrimination on the basis of race, retaliation, breach of contract, wrongful termination, religious harassment, and “religious coercion and abuse of the ministerial exception,” among other claims.

EWTN News

Views vary among Catholic clergy on ‘just war’ pronouncements

By Ken Oliver-Méndez, April 28, 2026

While various leading U.S. prelates have taken the position that the U.S. war with Iran fails to meet the Churchʼs classic just war criteria, opinion on the matter is not unanimous. In recent days, one of the countryʼs most prominent bishops in the public arena, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, contended that itʼs not even the role of the Churchʼs leaders to make a final determination about whether a particular war is just or not. “The role of the Church,” Barron wrote in an X post on April 20, “is to call for peace and to urge that any conflict be strictly circumscribed by the moral constraints of the just war criteria,” which is outlined in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (No. 2309). “it is not the role of the Church to evaluate whether a particular war is just or unjust.” In an extensive appraisal of the situation in the light of just war teaching, Father Gerald Murray, a former U.S. Navy chaplain, wrote in The Free Press that “the justice of the United States attack on Iran is confirmed by the Iranian regime’s admissions.”

The Pillar

Leo acknowledges a ‘complex’ relationship with Anglicans

By Charles Collins, April 27, 2026

Relations between the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have “been complex,” according to Pope Leo XIV as he met the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally in the Vatican on Monday. She is the first woman to lead the Church of England and the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. The pontiff noted that this year is the 60th anniversary of the first formal ecumenical statement between the Anglican and Catholic Churches, signed in 1966 at St. Paul’s Outside the Walls basilica. “While much progress has been made on some historically divisive issues, new problems have arisen in recent decades, rendering the pathway to full communion more difficult to discern,” Pope Leo said. In the developing world – especially in Africa – the Anglican Communion is much more conservative. These Anglicans are most often from the Evangelical wing of the communion rather than the Anglo-Catholic wing. This branch has suffered its own problems over female ordination.

Related: Canterbury archbishop to visit pope, a milestone for churches split on women clergy - (RNS) - Catherine Pepinster, April 24, 2026

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Aleteia

Weekly Mass can help you live longer

By Anna Kurian, April 22, 2026

Most Catholics do not drag themselves to Sunday Mass thinking, Excellent, this should lower my mortality risk. They go because it is Sunday, because they were taught to go, because they need the Eucharist, because they are trying to be faithful, or, on some weeks, simply because not going feels worse. The idea that sitting through the readings, standing, kneeling, singing half a hymn, and trying not to think about lunch could also be quietly improving one’s health is not usually the first thing that comes to mind. Drawing on a growing body of observational studies, internal medicine physician Dr. José Jorge Maya recently shared that people who attend religious services at least once a week show, on average, a 21% lower risk of cancer, a 29% lower likelihood of smoking, a 34% lower risk of excessive alcohol use, a 33% lower risk of depression, and, perhaps most strikingly, a 27% lower risk of mortality from any cause. Adolescents, he added, also show lower rates of risky sexual behavior and substance abuse.

Zenit News

New research reports an increase in church attendance & donations

By Jorge Enrique Mújica, April 28, 2026

For a quarter of a century, the trajectory of religious life in the United States has appeared unmistakably downward. Congregations shrank, public confidence in organized religion eroded, and the rise of the religiously unaffiliated reshaped the cultural landscape. Yet new research suggests that the narrative, while not reversed, may be entering a more complex phase—one marked less by collapse than by adaptation and tentative recovery. A major study released on April 24 by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research offers what its authors describe as “cautious optimism.” The numbers remain modest when placed in historical context. At the turn of the millennium, the average congregation drew 137 people to in-person services. That figure fell dramatically over the following decades, reaching a low of 45 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, it stands at 70 adults—an improvement over the 65 recorded in 2020, but still far from earlier levels.

From Loop & EWTN to Pillar Post for 4/29/26

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• VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT STOPS EFFORT TO REINSTATE NEW MAP - The Virginia Supreme Court yesterday rejected a request from Democrats and the state to stay a lower court ruling that blocks certification of results from last week’s special election on a congressional redistricting amendment. The high court decision leaves the Democrat-backed map rewrite on hold for now as the midterms approach. READ

• KING PRESSES FOR PARTNERSHIP IN ADDRESS TO CONGRESS - King Charles III called for the U.S. and the U.K. to "rededicate" themselves to each other and to the defense of shared democratic values during an address to Congress yesterday. The king's speech touched on Ukraine, NATO, the 9/11 anniversary, and the recent shooting at the White House Correspondents' Dinner. READ

• FOOTBALL STAR SERVES MEN DEVASTATED BY ABORTION - Nyles Pinckney, a former defensive tackle at Clemson University, was still in college when his girlfriend became pregnant. Years after they both experienced the pain of an abortion, he now works to help men find healing after similar experiences. READ

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 29, 2026

EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• New film depicts the powerful role St. Joseph can play in marriages, families - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - “Saint Joseph: Guardian of the Family” tells the story of a married couple facing a serious marital crisis. After the husband — a journalist — is assigned to investigate testimonies of people who claim to have experienced the intercession of St. Joseph

• Vatican automates its telescope in Arizona for remote use -

  By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú - Thanks to donations, the telescope is now operable remotely by students at Jesuit universities and has already been used by astronomers at the Vatican’s observatory in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.

• U.S. dioceses observe Child Abuse Prevention Month - By Madalaine Elhabbal - Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond, Virginia, urged vigilance in child protection, and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago posted a video message about the monthʼs observance on behalf of U.S. bishops.

The Pillar

Pillar Stories for Tuesday, 4/29/26

The Pillar offers a news summary and a capsule take on Catholic News. Here are news stories from the past week in the Pillar Post:

• First, thanking God first disposes us to see Providence when we’re tempted to see only our own efforts. Second, thanking God first inclines us to gratitude, when we’re often inclined to grumble or resentment about what we don’t have yet. Third, thanking God first purifies our intentions — no one would, I hope, have the audacity to thank almighty God for providing something he wanted for the wrong reasons.

• More than seven months ago, a Polish Carmelite was arrested in Belarus on espionage charges. On Tuesday, he was freed. Twenty-seven-year-old Brother Grzegorz Gaweł was detained last September, when Belarusian authorities said he was carrying a sensitive military document documenting a Belarusian exercise conducted jointly with Russia.

• A Belgian diocese confirmed this week that the Vatican imposed confidential disciplinary measures on its former bishop in 2021. The Diocese of Namur said April 21 that retired Bishop Rémy Vancottem was informed five years ago that he could no longer celebrate Mass in public or participate in bishops’ conference bodies due to his mishandling of an abuse case.

Nutshell reflections for 4/29/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - April 29, 2026

Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

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Crisis Magazine

Liberalism continues to guide the Holy See

By Augustine Franer, April 22, 2026

Pope Leo XIV rejected the blessing of homosexual unions last Thursday, and for this, the Church ought to be grateful. It surely isn’t easy to contradict the consensus opinion of Western society and expose oneself to the vicious criticism of the modern media, especially for a public figure as exposed to global scrutiny as the pope. Unfortunately, upon reviewing his response in its entirety, the continued influence of liberalism on the Holy See is apparent, leaving one wondering when, or if, that influence will be broken. Before explicitly rejecting the blessing of homosexual unions, the pope provided a rather unnecessary preamble, noticeably apologetic in tone. He remarked: We tend to think that when the Church is talking about morality, that the only issue of morality is sexual. And in reality, I believe there are much greater, more important issues, such as justice, equality, freedom of men and women, freedom of religion, that would all take priority before that particular issue.

National Catholic Reporter

What we learned about Pope Leo XIV in Africa

By Michael Sean Winters, April 27, 2026

Asked about visiting authoritarian regimes at the final press conference, Leo said, “We are actually trying to find a way to apply the Gospel to concrete situations so that the lives of people can be improved. We don’t always make great proclamations, criticizing, judging, or condemning, but there’s an awful lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to promote justice, to promote humanitarian causes, to look for, at times, situations where there may be political prisoners and finding ways for them to be freed.” We knew Leo was not flashy, that he did not possess his predecessor’s flair for the dramatic idiom, the grand gesture, the flavorful metaphor. He is from Chicago, not Argentina. But his visit to the prison, and his words about the church’s ongoing work for justice, indicated that his heart, like Francis’, Benedict XVI’s, John Paul II’s, Paul VI’s, and John XXIII’s, is with the imprisoned, and that the Gospel reaches to these truly marginalized, incarcerated persons.

Related: Leo recaps 11-day trip as chance to spotlight people of Africa - Aleteia - Kathleen N. Hattrup - 04/29/26

The Catholic Weekly

Pro-life activists & abolitionists square off in abortion debate

By Alex Woolnough, April 28, 2026

Pro-life activists led by Dr Joanna Howe and abortion abolitionists from Abolish Abortion Australia (AAA) clashed in an intense but largely civil debate at Rydges World Square on 16 April. The event was hosted by pro-life organization Bird Flip and moderated by NSW Libertarian MP John Ruddick. Dr. Howe, founder of Bird Flip, and her husband, James Howe, debated AAA representatives Todd Boaden and Elijah Harris on the proposition that Australian politicians are morally obligated to ban late-term abortions. The debate followed AAA’s opposition to recent bills in South Australia and New South Wales – from Sarah Game MLC and Ruddick — which sought to ban late-term abortions. While the evening began with expressions of goodwill and ended with handshakes, exchanges during the debate were often sharp, at times taking a personal edge. Arguing the affirmative, the Howes said the abolitionist position — calling for the total and immediate abolition of abortion — would, in practice, prevent support for incremental laws that could save lives now.

Catholic Digest

We used to have heavily involved godparents

By Catholic Digest, April 29, 2025

According to Joel and Lisa Schmidt, co-founders of ThePracticingCatholic.com, Catholic godparents today don’t play the important roles that they once did. Godparenting has become more of an honorary title than a responsibility. In today’s culture, there are little or no expectations associated with it. “We were invited to a baptism in the Latin Rite by friends of ours,” says Lisa, “and I was struck most by the prominent role the godparents played. The parents never held the child. The parents never responded. It was always the godparents. I walked away from that thinking, Wow! The Church has a special place for godparents, and it’s easy for us to misunderstand that.” “The thing that was striking was the liturgical prominence of the godparents in the old rite,” explains Joel. “When you contrast that with the new rite, the godparents are there, but they don’t really have a prominent role. Now that most people don’t necessarily live close to their families, we don’t have a lot of large extended families going to church together for the most part. The culture has changed significantly.”

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Catholic Nutshell News is a subscription service hosted by SubStack. Get up to a dozen recent articles from Monday to Saturday to review regarding newsworthy issues. An easy way to browse top Catholic news and information services on the net. Edited by John Pearring.

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Today's sources are OSV News, EWTN, First Things, Big Pulpit, Zenit, and CatholicVote. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)

Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

EWTN News

Hotline operator is Catholic Charities 2026 volunteer of the year

By Tessa Gervasini, April 27, 2026

Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA) has named Julie Abbott its 2026 volunteer of the year for her work as “a good and faithful servant.” Abbott has spent more than 15 years and nearly 5,000 hours answering the Relief & Hope emergency services hotline and accompanying callers, many of whom are at their lowest and most vulnerable points. The Catholic Charities Maine hotline provides immediate support for individuals and families experiencing crises. Abbott helps with a number of challenges related to finances, mental health, job loss, car repairs, housing, hunger, and other situations callers may find themselves in. The award also acknowledges Abbott’s work in developing a large database of resources covering Maine’s 16 counties. Due to its success, the state’s 2-1-1 operators, who provide residents with local health and human services information, have even been known to call her for guidance on referring their own callers to the appropriate services.

ACI Africa

‘Three years of silence: Priest, driver still missing in South Sudan

By Agnes Aineah, April 27, 2026

South Sudan’s Catholic Diocese of Tombura Yambio (CDTY) has sent out a passionate appeal for truth about what happened to a Priest of the Diocese who disappeared three years ago alongside his driver. Fr. Luke Yugue who served as the Parish Priest of Nazareth Nagero Parish in CDTY and his driver, Michael Gbeko went missing on 27 April 2024 on their way from a pastoral mission. The Diocese lost contact with the duo who were traveling on a motorbike from Nagero County to Tombura. The area where the Priest and his driver went missing is under the control of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which is primarily fighting the SPLM-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) in the country’s protracted civil strife. Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of CDTY said that the eyes of the entire Diocese are “fixed on the road”, waiting in anticipation for the return of the two.

National Catholic Register

In a polarized West, violence is becoming thinkable again

By Alberto M. Fernandez, April 27, 2026

If we’re not quite in an age of revolution in the West, there are many acting, or play-acting, as though we are. Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione, who went to Penn, the same school as President Donald Trump, has become something of an icon on the left for murdering insurance executive Brian Thompson in 2024. Trans-identifying young people have shot and killed children in religious schools in Tennessee and Minnesota. The New York Times, the most influential newspaper on the planet, recently featured a fawning interview with leftist influencers Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino, justifying Mangione, embracing Marxism, and endorsing “microlooting” — robbing stores and (in Piker’s case) even national museums — as some sort of principled stand against the powerful. Both Piker and Tolentino, like Mangione, come from upper-middle-class or wealthy backgrounds, but that doesn’t seem to have caused much introspection on their part.

Zenit

Pro-lifers win again at UN conference

By Stefano Gennarini, April 26, 2026

Pro-life advocates scored another victory during the second week of April 2026 at the United Nations as the chairman of the UN Commission on Population and Development, Ambassador Zéphyrin Maniratanga of Burundi, refused to put a document forward for approval. He objected to the European efforts to load up the document with abortion and gender ideology. Maniratanga’s decision was a quiet but sharp rebuke to the European and progressive governments that, just last month, forced a vote on the agreement at the Commission on the Status of Women rather than one that would have defined what a woman is. It was the first time in the history of that commission that a vote was necessary. Europeans and their allies seemed poised to call a vote this week, too. Gambia, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and the United States also congratulated Maniratanga and expressed similar concerns.

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CatholicVote

Buffalo lowers amount parishes must contribute to abuse settlement

By Hannah Hiester, April 27, 2026

The Diocese of Buffalo, New York, reportedly issued a letter to diocesan priests in March walking back its request that parishes cover $80 million of its $150 million settlement with clergy sex abuse survivors and now asking churches to contribute a lower percentage of their assets. Local outlet WIVB reported that Bishop Michael Fisher said in the letter that the diocese has revised its contribution to the settlement, increasing its payout from $30 million to $40 million. The formula for working out how much parishes should now contribute has changed slightly. According to WIVB, parishes will be asked to provide an amount based on their total available cash. “We regard this as a more equitable approach in keeping with essential canonical consideration,” Bishop Fisher said in the letter, according to WIVB. The remaining settlement money is expected to come from affiliate organizations, real estate sales, and the diocese’s insurers.

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Aleteia

How prayers to Mary go to God

By Philip Kosloski, April 27, 2026

When Catholics pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is not an act of worship, as worship is given only to God. St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, an 18th-century priest devoted to the Virgin Mary, explains what happens to prayers addressed to Our Lady. The explanation is found in his book True Devotion to Mary. He starts off by writing that sincere and devout prayers to the Virgin Mary “will give more glory to Jesus in a month than in many years of a more demanding devotion.” Montfort added, “She is an echo of God, speaking and repeating only God. If you say "Mary," she says "God." When St. Elizabeth praised Mary, calling her blessed because she had believed, Mary, the faithful echo of God, responded with her canticle, "My soul glorifies the Lord." It's not an act of idol-worship, but a simple petitioning of a loving Mother to whisper in the ear of her Son.

The Pillar

German Church leaders defend blessing guidelines

By Luke Coppen, April 27, 2026

Bishop Georg Bätzing, who oversaw the guidelines’ introduction in April 2025 when serving as chairman of the German bishops’ conference, insisted that they posed no threat to Church unity. Leading German Church figures have also defended the country’s guidelines on the blessing of same-sex couples in response to critical comments from Pope Leo XIV. “Even though there are differing views on this within the universal Church, I believe this practice in the Diocese of Limburg is carried out within responsible limits. It serves the people and, in my view, does not jeopardize the unity of the Church.” ZdK president Irme Stetter-Karp told German media there was no reason to withdraw the guidelines following Pope Leo’s remarks. She said the document was aimed at encouraging the provision of blessing ceremonies “for couples who do not wish to enter into a sacramental church marriage or for whom such a marriage is not an option. No more and no less. There is no possibility of confusing it with the sacrament of marriage,” she said.

OSV News

Do you know his voice?

By Deacon Greg Kandra, April 24, 2026

How many times have we heard Jesus described as “The Good Shepherd”? Here it is again in the scriptures for this fourth Sunday of Easter (commonly called “Good Shepherd Sunday”). The image is familiar, poignant, tender; it asks us to think differently about our relationship with the Lord. He is one who guides, prods, leads, and protects with the attention and patience of a shepherd tending his flock, with a firm but gentle hand. The lesson in this passage is about more than herding livestock. It’s not just about the one we see and choose to follow. It’s also about listening. Hearing the shepherd’s voice. Recognizing it. Knowing it. Acting on it. Jesus mentions it no less than three times. “The sheep hear his voice,” Jesus says. When we hear the voice of Jesus, it is not a voice of fear or hostility; it is not a call to bitterness or rash judgment or dismissiveness or disdain. Turn down the volume on the chattering voices you hear on social media, cable television, and YouTube. You won’t hear Jesus there.

Pulpit, EWTN, & Fides News for 4/28/26

BIG PULPIT

Tito Edwards Catholic blogger site: April 28, 2026

The Big Pulpit website is an intelligent news aggregator offering insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide. Here are Chief Editor Tito Edward’s top recommendations for today.

• Did This Priest Crack the Code for Vocational Discernment? – Jenny Lark Snarski at Aleteia

• Hawaii Declares April 27 Joseph Dutton Day! – Joan Lewis at Joan’s Rome Blog

• Latin Conquers All in America’s Catholic Classrooms – William Morton at The Catholic Herald

• In Just Two Months, Leo Completes the Changeover: Załuski the New Nuncio – Silere Non Poss

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 28, 2026

EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• Florida diocese set to debut ‘Trinity Village’ offering tiny homes for seniors - By Daniel Payne - The Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee says the homes will include “affordable rents” to seniors at risk of homelessness. The “target population” for the small parcel of homes is senior citizens. The senior demographic is “one of the more vulnerable segments of the population” regarding housing costs.

• Pope sends new shipment of humanitarian aid to Lebanon and Ukraine - By Victoria Cardiel - “The Dicastery for the Service of Charity serves as the conduit for the pope’s aid. In recent days, we dispatched a trailer to Ukraine containing medicines, food products, hygiene supplies, and clothing. We also sent 15,000 essential medicines to Lebanon,” the Spanish archbishop stated in a message posted on X.

• ‘A generation that won’t be silenced’: Young people turn out for pro-life march in Mexico City - By Diego López Colín - The administration of Claudia Sheinbaum, on Oct. 1, 2024, and backed by support from her party in the state legislatures, new laws permitting abortion were passed in Jalisco, Michoacán, San Luis Potosí, Zacatecas, Mexico, Chiapas, Nayarit, Chihuahua, Campeche, Yucatán, and Tabasco states.

Agenzia Fides

Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies - 4/28/26

Fides News Agency (Fides) was established in 1927, at the direction of the Council Superior General of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, as the first Missionary Agency of the Church and among the first agencies in the world.

VATICAN/VATICAN - Vocations are growing in Africa and Asia, nourished by the faith of the People of God - (Fides News Agency) - the data for the 2023/24 academic year (778 seminaries with 82,859 seminarians) and the 2024/25 academic year (801 seminaries with 88,156 seminarians) - a positive difference of 23 seminaries and 5,297 seminarians.

AFRICA/NIGERIA - 23 Children kidnapped from an orphanage at Dahallukitab Group of Schools complex in Lokoja - Lokoja - (Fides News Agency) – No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack on a Nigerian orphanage in which a group of gunmen kidnapped 23 children. The gang took the children late on Sunday, April 26

The silent massacre of humanitarian workers - Cosimo Graziani - The crises of the international order and the weakening of multilateralism, on the margins of major humanitarian catastrophes, take the form of a silent massacre: that of humanitarian workers.

Nutshell reflections for 4/28/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - April 28, 2026

Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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The Imaginative Conservative

The Fruits of Contemplation: The Infused Virtues

By David Torkington, April 25, 2026

Conventional wisdom tells us that geniuses are born. However, the Catholic metaphysical poet Francis Thompson said there is an exception to this rule. He insists that at the moment of rebirth at baptism, the genius of God is implanted in the very depths of our being. It is his genius, the Holy Spirit, who supports, sustains, and keeps our hearts centered on God. In this way, our love, strengthened and fortified by his, begins to rise, piercing the evil that surrounds us and opening a mystical passageway. It is through this passageway that our augmented love rises to God, enabling his infinite loving to descend into us. In God’s time, not ours, his love prepares us for the fullest possible union with him that finally satisfies the profound primeval desire for love that he planted within us

Missio Dei Catholic

They spoke of the faith to Greeks

By Deacon Michael Halbrook, April 28, 2026

The persecution that rose up after Stephen’s death drove the disciples out of Jerusalem - to Phoenicia, Cyprus, Antioch, further than they might otherwise have gone, further than the original mission seemed to require. Luke notes this almost in passing, as though it were an administrative detail: “those who had been scattered by the persecution that arose because of Stephen.” But it is not incidental. The violence that killed Stephen became the wind that carried the Gospel to people it had not yet reached. Some of the scattered disciples, Cypriots and Cyrenians among them, arrived in Antioch and did something that had not been done before: they spoke of the faith to Greeks. Not to Jews of the diaspora, not to God-fearers at the edge of the synagogue, but to Greeks - Gentiles, outsiders, people with no framework for the covenant and no preparation for the Messiah. “The hand of the Lord was with them,” Luke says, “and a great number who believed turned to the Lord.”

The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered

Math trains the mind to love what is true

By James K. Hanna, April 21, 2026

Thanks to Jeremy Wayne Tate of A Beautiful Education for this outstanding explanation of why to learn math. I wish someone had shared this perspective with me the summer of junior high school. “But the origins of math have never been primarily about utility. Math is formative. It trains the mind to love what is true, to recognize what is orderly, and to be drawn toward what is beautiful. It teaches us that the universe is not chaos, but something intelligible, something structured, something that can be known. And you can see that truth made visible in the world’s most breathtaking churches and cathedrals: arches, vaults, domes, proportions, symmetry, harmony, light—geometry turned into glory. The mathematics that shapes a cathedral is not cold or sterile. It’s the language of wonder, carved into stone. We don’t teach math because everyone will use it. We teach math because it forms the kind of person who can see that reality has meaning.” (See his full Substack article here.)

First Things

Surrogacy is already illegal

By Josh Wood, April 28, 2026

In 1984, a Virginia physician named H. Barry Jacobs announced a plan to broker human kidneys on the open market. Congress responded within months. The National Organ Transplant Act (NOTA) made it a federal crime to “knowingly acquire, receive, or otherwise transfer any human organ for valuable consideration for use in human transplantation.” Up to five years in prison. Up to $50,000 in fines. And the Senate report was blunt: “Human body parts should not be viewed as commodities.” That was then. Open the website of any commercial surrogacy agency in 2026, and you will find a fee schedule. Base compensation for the surrogate: $40,000 to $90,000. Additional compensation if she loses her uterus: $3,000 to $20,000. That is a published price for a federally protected human organ. And it is not the only organ involved in the transaction. The uterus has been classified as a human organ under NOTA since 2013, when the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) added vascularized composite allografts to the statute’s coverage.

Catholic Nutshell News is a subscription service hosted by SubStack. Get up to a dozen recent articles from Monday to Saturday to review newsworthy issues. An easy way to browse top Catholic news and information services on the net. Edited by John Pearring.

Listen to an audio podcast of today’s Catholic Nutshell News on the Substack App!

At the top of your phone, while in the Substack app to read our post, you can press the ▶️ play button and have Catholic Nutshell News read to you daily …

Unless otherwise noted, the bible references linked in the posts are from the USCCB website online publication of the Books of the Bible.

{Catholic Nutshell News, LLC is a registered Trade Name in Colorado. Identified as a legal entity with the U.S. Treasury.}

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“Worth your weight in walnuts”

Today's sources are Crux, Graphs about Religion, Aleteia, The PILLAR, OSV News, Catholic Culture, & EWTN News. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)

Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

EWTN News

Pro-life ministry brings ultrasounds to classrooms across the U.S.

By Madalaine Elhabbal, April 25, 2026

On the 2012 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, during a Holy Hour, Nikki Schaefer and her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, were inspired to start a simple ministry to sell hand-sewn pro-life pillows to raise money for pregnancy centers. Today, Heart of a Child Ministries has expanded into a fetal development education program present in K–12 classrooms across the country. The ministryʼs initial sale of the pro-life pillow raised roughly $40,000 shortly after they began, Schaefer told EWTN News. “With the sale of the pillow, we were featured in an article, and that’s how the first invitations to schools started to emerge in 2015.” Founded in Omaha, Nebraska, Heart of a Child Ministries is growing into a multistate presence, with two new fetal-certified educators in Illinois: one in Springfield and another set to be trained in Mokena in October. The organization also now has certified educators in Alabama and Idaho.

CRUX

Death of nearly 8000 migrants in 2025 is a tragedy, says bishop

By Fionn Shiner, April 22, 2026

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a report on Tuesday that found approximately 7,900 migrants died or went missing in 2025, bringing the total since 2014 to over 80,000 deaths. “With more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances documented during migration worldwide since 2014, the nearly 8,000 deaths documented in 2025 mark a continuation and escalation of a global failure to end these preventable deaths,” the UN agency stated in the report, which is released annually. “While these figures represent only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people, they nonetheless underscore the need for urgent action to end migrant deaths and address the complex needs of families left behind,” the IOM added. In 2024, the number of deaths was 9,200.

Aleteia

College of Cardinals now down to 120 members

By I.Media, April 27, 2026

On Wednesday, April 15, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni celebrated his 80th birthday, losing his status as a cardinal elector by the end of the day. With that transition, the College of Cardinals came to have exactly 120 voting-age members. This is the exact canonical limit established by Pope Paul VI, although the “limit” is often surpassed with a greater number of electors. In recent years, the 120-elector limit set by Paul VI in his 1975 apostolic constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo has been repeatedly surpassed. Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and especially Pope Francis all exceeded this number. In fact, Francis seemed to treat the threshold as a floor rather than a ceiling. For example, the College of Cardinals had 135 voting-age members at the start of the 2025 conclave, with 133 ultimately participating. The 120 cardinals who currently make up the College of Cardinals were created by the last three popes. The vast majority — 99 cardinals — were created by Francis.

Indian Express

‘Anglicans and Catholics must … overcome differences’

By Devin Watkins, April 20, 2026

Pope Leo XIV held an audience on Monday with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally, and prayed with her in the Urban VIII Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. In his greetings, the Pope expressed his joy at receiving the Archbishop during the Easter season, recalling the historic encounter between Pope St. Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, which took place 60 years ago. He also expressed appreciation for the ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome, greeting its Director, Bishop Anthony Ball, who represents the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Holy See. Pope Leo recalled the many decades of theological dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans that have been made along the path to restoring “complete communion in faith and sacramental life.” Despite its complexity, he said, this ecumenical journey has borne fruit regarding various historically divisive issues, noting that the Anglican Communion is currently facing “many of these same questions at this time.”

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The PILLAR

A firm handshake could soon be a thing of the past

By Ed. Condon, April 24, 2026

But some things change just too completely too quickly to let pass. For example, I read this week that the simple practices of shaking hands and looking people in the eye as you talk to them are likely to go the way of the necktie (don’t get me started). Apparently, more than a quarter of young people will “actively avoid” or decline shaking hands because it provokes “social anxiety” — 40 percent can’t make eye contact when speaking to someone. As anyone who has lived in adult society for any stretch of time will tell you, how a person shakes hands and looks you in the eye tells you a lot about them. Now, fine, I am a grumpy middle-aged man. But when I was a kid, you were literally told to “shake hands and look people in the eye” when you met someone. These were not optional; they were absolutely mandatory behaviors, and learning to do them was part of growing up, as ubiquitous and non-negotiable as learning to read or do basic math.

National Catholic Register

When teaching the faith becomes a crime in Iceland

By Jennifer Roback Morse, Maura Eckels Scherber, April 24, 2026

In March, Father Jakob Rolland, a Catholic priest in Iceland, was placed under investigation after stating in a radio interview a teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the Eucharist — specifically, that those aware of unconfessed grave sins, including homosexual acts, should not receive Holy Communion. This placed him at risk of criminal charges for possible violations of Iceland’s “conversion therapy” ban. But Father Rolland did not, in fact, do what he was accused of. So what is the real issue in Iceland: a priest offering “conversion therapy” or a government targeting a belief it finds intolerable? Iceland’s ban on conversion therapy “prohibits any person to cause an individual, through coercion, deception or threats, to undergo an unproven treatment with the aim of suppressing or changing sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and makes them subject to fines or imprisonment for so doing.” Nothing Father Rolland did fit that description.

Graphs about Religion

White America’s Republican drift

By Ryan Burge, April 27, 2026

It has become increasingly the case that to be white and Christian is to support the Republican Party. If you take a peek at the partisan composition of white Christians as far back as we can (1972), you see a much more complete portrait. In 1972, a clear majority of white Christians (regardless of their denominational affiliation) were Democrats. That, by itself, is downright shocking to many audiences when I show a version of this graph. It is important to note here that these weren’t the types of Democrats that we know in modern political discourse. There are only two ways for this to really happen. One is called generational replacement. But there’s another possibility — white Christians simply began to change their minds about politics as each year passed. The reason for the white Christian shift toward the Republican Party is that a whole bunch of people just happened to change their minds at nearly the same time. If you look at the “entry point” for the younger generations of white Christians, you see that they come into adulthood with a much more Republican-leaning outlook than their parents or grandparents.

Our Sunday Visitor

Virginians march against extreme abortion amendment

By D. Hunter Reardon, April 27, 2026

On Nov. 3, Virginia voters will face a referendum on an amendment that, if passed, would enshrine virtually unlimited access to abortion in the state constitution. On April 22, pro-life advocates took to the streets of downtown Richmond in protest during the annual Virginia March for Life. “St. George was known as the dragon slayer,” Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond said. “Today, we have a dragon hovering over Virginia seeking to devour life and to take life, to destroy that great good that God has given us.” The amendment would create risky loopholes for unlicensed abortion providers to perform unregulated abortions at any time, even up until birth; would not protect babies born alive after a failed abortion; and would severely jeopardize the current Virginia parental consent law designed to protect minors. “I don’t think the public is aware of what’s in the amendment, and just how far it goes,” said John Curran, who traveled with the Knights of Columbus Council 6828 from St. Bede Parish.

EWTN, UCA, and CW News for 4/27/26

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 27, 2026

EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• U.S. bishops say violence ‘never the answer’ after shooting at White House press dinner - By EWTN News Staff - Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned violence, and Bishop David Bonnar of Youngstown, Ohio, said the issue of gun violence must be addressed.

• Pope Leo XIV tells new priests: ‘You are a channel, not a filter’ - By Victoria Cardiel - The pope ordained 10 men to the priesthood on Good Shepherd Sunday and later warned at the Regina Caeli against the “thieves” that rob people of freedom, dignity, and peace.

• The laywoman who has quietly formed a generation of priests and sisters in South Asia - By Sumon Corraya - For decades, Lobdine Chisim, a lay teacher and catechist from Mariamnagar Parish in Bangladesh’s Diocese of Mymensingh, has been one such influence — helping shape a generation of priests and religious sisters through personal sacrifice, faithful accompaniment, and maternal care.

UCA News

The Union of Catholic Asian World News - 4/27/26

UCA News (UCAN) is the leading independent Catholic media service from Asia, with a convergent media approach that couples traditional journalistic practices with multimedia and social media

Buddhist monks arrested with large quantity of narcotics in Sri Lanka - April 27, 2026, UCA News reporter - The 22 monks, who arrived from Thailand, were caught concealing over 110 kilograms of drugs worth $3.45 million. The drugs were hidden in tampered-with luggage compartments, packed alongside school materials and confectionery. Each suspect was found to be carrying around five kilograms.

Pakistan churches reject proposed amendments to Christian marriage law - April 27, 2026, Kamran Chaudhry - The amendments to the Christian Marriage Act of 1872 seek to raise the minimum legal age for marriage for Christian boys and girls to 18. It also requires both parties to be Christian for a marriage to be solemnized under the law, replacing the current provision that permits marriage between a Christian and a non-Christian.

Global military spending surges amid insecurity: report - April 27, 2026, AFP, Stockholm - Spending rose for an 11th straight year in 2025 as wars and rising tensions drove increased defense budgets worldwide.

Catholic World News

CatholicCulture.org from Trinity Communications

Catholic World News (CWN) is an independent Catholic news service staffed by lay Catholic journalists, dedicated to providing accurate global news from a distinctly Catholic perspective.

• Training the tongue for virtuous conversation, w/ Fr. Gregory Pine - by The Catholic Culture Podcast - Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., joins the podcast to talk about his new book Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech. He answers questions about small talk, cheekiness, oversharing, using humor to avoid vulnerability, Millennial vs. Gen Z irony, correcting others, and openness to pursuing the truth.

• What happened to my old parish? - by Phil Lawler - The Mass schedule offered nine options on Sunday (there was no anticipatory Mass in those days). The early-morning Masses were sparsely attended, but by mid-Sunday morning, there would be two Masses celebrated simultaneously—with slightly staggered start times—in the upper and lower churches. And the pews would be full.

• A test of Leo’s pontificate? - by Dr. Jeff Mirus - Although it is good to see Leo XIV travelling to different areas around the world to emphasize the care of the Pope for all Catholics, and indeed for all persons everywhere, at some point his pontificate will be judged—as were those of St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—by how well he controls the administration of the Church itself, that is, by his appointment of solid bishops and his correction of those ecclesiastical and academic leaders who refuse to uphold the fullness of the Catholic Faith.

Nutshell reflections for 4/27/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - April 27, 2026

Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter

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Word on Fire

Blessed Alberto Marvelli, ‘Engineer of charity’

By Isabelle Larivee, April 25, 2026

It inspires so much hope when one discovers a saint close to their own era. Sweeter is that discovery when the saint shares one’s vocation, and lay saints are relatively few and far between. And so it was my sweet surprise to discover a recent blessed of the Church who lived the lay life and walked the tightrope of being in the world but not of it: an active politician who won the respect of even the Communists, lived through the bombings of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Rimini, and was a talented engineer and dedicated high school teacher. His name was Alberto Marvelli, and he has been dubbed by some the “Engineer of Charity.” When his hometown of Rimini was under German occupation, many innocent people were taken in trains to concentration camps. Alberto broke open the sealed cars and freed those he could before the trains left the station.

Dominicana

Saint Ambrose, warrior for Christ

By Br. Ambrose Power, O.P., April 23, 2026

Imagine that your city has been breached by attackers. You are tasked with defending your homeland, but you have no weapons. What should you do? Saint Ambrose found himself in such a situation. After being made the Bishop of Milan, Ambrose immediately had a problem on his hands: an enemy had breached the gates of his city. That enemy was the heresy of Arianism, a Christological error that denies the full divinity of Jesus Christ. How would Ambrose fight back? Throughout his time as shepherd of souls, Ambrose relied on three spiritual weapons to combat the heresy of Arianism and fight for the glory of Christ: sacred study, constant prayer, and fervent preaching. In the end, Ambrose successfully drove out the Arian heresy from his diocese. The odds were often stacked against the saint. But amid these difficulties, Ambrose relied on the spiritual weapons Christ had given him.

George Weigel

‘Ecclesiacide,’ then and now

By George Weigel, April 22, 2026

Pardon the Latin-rooted neologism, but if “patricide” works for murdering your father and “regicide” for taking out a king, why not “ecclesiacide” for trying to kill an entire Church? That’s what happened some eighty years ago, on March 8–10, 1946, at St. George’s Cathedral in L’viv, Ukraine. There, what was alleged to be a church council (or sobor) voted to annul the 1596 Union of Brest and thereby reunite the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). from primary source material in the Ukrainian state archives, that the so-called “L’viv Sobor” of 1946 was engineered by the Soviet security services and had no more moral, spiritual, or legal legitimacy than any other act coerced at gunpoint. To be sure, this “pseudo-sobor” was a strategic failure, as the Soviet Ministry of State Security acknowledged shortly afterward. In the matter of Russia and Ukraine, it’s the same old same old, eighty years later. Politicians and diplomats who imagine that religious conviction, genuine or perverted, plays no role in world affairs should think again.

Matt Fradd’s Terrifying Ruminations

The Bible presupposes a Church already in existence

By Matt Fradd, April 25, 2026

The idea is simple: what matters most in Christianity is clearly taught in Scripture and easily grasped by any sincere reader, while whatever is unclear must be secondary. But first, notice this principle isn’t taught in Scripture. Scripture itself suggests otherwise: some passages are hard to understand and can be misread (2 Peter 3:16), others require guidance to grasp (Acts 8), and even where God’s word is said to give light (Psalm 119), it is never claimed to make all saving truths immediately obvious to every reader. But if God established a Church and gave it authority to teach and explain what has been revealed, then we can have a kind of certainty that the Bible alone was never meant to provide. As Scott Hahn said somewhere, “the Bible is not an instruction manual for a Church still in shrink wrap; it presupposes a Church already in existence.”

Catholic Nutshell News is a subscription service hosted by SubStack. Get up to a dozen recent articles and another dozen headlined links, Monday through Saturday — all newsworthy issues. An easy way to browse top Catholic news and information services on the net. Edited by John Pearring.

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Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."

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“The greatest thing since peanut butter & jelly”

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CatholicVote

Tennessee replaces ‘Pride Month’ with ‘Nuclear Family Month’

By Hannah Hiester, April 21, 2026

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, recently signed legislation that designates June as “Nuclear Family Month” instead of “Pride Month.” The bill affirms that a family consisting of a husband, wife, and their children — whether biological, adopted, or foster — is “God’s design for familial structure and has been the bedrock of society since the creation of the world.” It also recognizes families as the foundation of Tennessee and the U.S. The bill additionally addresses the harms that incomplete families create, pointing to studies that show fatherlessness is linked to rates of higher poverty, mental health crises among children, substance abuse, youth suicide, and incarceration, among other issues. Further, the legislation rejects ideologies that promote abortion or sterilization, saying that Tennessee’s values “do not align” with those of entities like the World Health Organization or United Nations that “fight for population control.”

Religion News Service

Hegseth, Barron, & Evangelicals rededicating America to God

By Jack Jenkins, April 22, 2026

A slate of political, military, and religious leaders is scheduled to participate in a major faith-themed event on the National Mall next month, where members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet, musical guests, and a list of mostly conservative Christian speakers plan to lead participants in “solemnly rededicating our country as One Nation under God.” The event, titled “Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee Of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving,” is part of a series of events and initiatives designed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Organized by the group Freedom 250 as part of a public-private partnership with the White House and other government bodies, the gathering roughly coincides with the anniversary of an order sent by then-General George Washington in 1776, seconding the Continental Congress’s call for a day of “fasting, humiliation, and prayer.”

Crux

Pope’s last day in Equatorial Guinea: A tale of tensions

By Elise Ann Allen, April 23, 2026

From the beginning of his African odyssey, one criticism of Pope Leo’s decision to visit the specific nations he toured was that his presence would lend support to their authoritarian leadership. From April 13-23, the pope visited Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, with the last three notorious for dictatorial governance and rampant corruption. Pope Leo’s visit to Mongomo and Bata on Friday showcased the tension that often comes packaged with his new role as leader of the universal Church, as he sought to encourage the faithful in one of the Catholic Church’s fastest-growing regions, while also taking national leadership, some of whom are members of his own flock, to task. Leo made three separate flights in one day, traveling from Malabo – the capital city of Equatorial Guinea – to the eastern city of Mongomo, the birthplace of Nguema Mbasogo, 83, who is Catholic, and who has held office since 1982. Leo’s pointed remarks to the leaders of what is one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

The Pillar

Church in occupied Ukraine taken over by Russian Orthodox clergy

By Luke Coppen, April 20, 2026

The reported takeover of a Ukrainian Greek Catholic church by Russian Orthodox clergy on Easter Sunday was an act of “blasphemy,” Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk has said. “This is blasphemy against the Risen Lord — the Prince of Peace! And on the feast of Easter, no less,” Shevchuk said April 16. Russian forces have occupied Tokmak, a town of around 30,000 people, since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Russian authorities claim to uphold religious freedom in occupied territories, but the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church says its members, including clergy, have suffered arrests, torture, and deportation. Human rights groups have accused the occupation authorities of using the Russian Orthodox Church to supplant Christian communities that are not aligned with the Russian state. Shevchuk said, “With cynical deliberation, our church was seized on Easter; our faithful were expelled.”

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Aleteia

Bishops call on Canadians to contact MPs now

By Theresa Civantos Barber, April 23, 2025

Canada’s bishops are calling on Catholics to contact their Members of Parliament before March 2027, when the country’s assisted suicide program is set to expand yet again, to cover mental illness as a sole qualifying condition. The program, “Medical Aid in Dying” (MAiD), has drawn criticism from human rights advocates across the world. Since its legalization 10 years ago, over 60,000 Canadians have died by MAiD — including more than 5% of all Canadian deaths in 2024 alone. Now Canada’s Catholic bishops are urging Canadians to speak up and contact their Members of Parliament (MPs) to prevent a serious escalation of MAiD criteria. Up to this point, eligibility for MAiD required a physical health condition, such as an illness or disability. But beginning in March 2027, Canada is planning an expansion that would allow MAiD for mental illness as a sole condition. Bill C-218, currently before Parliament, would amend the Criminal Code to prevent MAiD from being provided when mental illness is the sole underlying condition.

Relatged: New York Catholic bishops issue new guidebook on making end-of-life decisions, EWTN News, By Kate Quiñones, April 22, 2026

Angelus News

LA-connected musicians win national Catholic music awards

By Mike Nelson, April 22, 2026

Three nationally known music ministers, all with ties to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, have been honored with awards from the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM). John Flaherty, longtime music director for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, was named the 2026 recipient of NPM’s Jubilate Deo Award for contributions to pastoral liturgy in the United States. Rodolfo (Rudy) López and Estela García-López, husband-and-wife musicians and composers originally from Los Angeles, earned the Pastoral Musician of the Year Award for their work in parish and diocesan ministries. “Liturgy is poetry and art,” Flaherty said. “It’s much more than just following rubrics; we’re called to find deeper meanings in what’s expressed in liturgy, to discover the heart of it all. There are pastoral as well as intellectual components to what we do at Mass, and when we can connect the head to the heart, we experience the transcendent.”

National Catholic Register

The Catholic Church’s response to AI — So far

By Jonah McKeown, March 27, 2026

Pope Leo XIII was known for his engagement with the profound social changes of the industrial revolution, especially through his 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum. Pope Leo XIV chose his papal name, in part, because of his desire to address what he has called the next “industrial revolution” — developments in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) that “pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.” Reports have emerged that Pope Leo’s first encyclical of his pontificate may soon be released and will likely address the ethical challenges posed by AI. The Pontifical Academy for Life released the “Rome Call for AI Ethics” in 2020, and several major global tech companies, including Microsoft and Cisco, have since signed on to the pledge. The most in-depth guidance the Vatican has provided so far on artificial intelligence can be found in Pope Francis’ Antiqua et Nova (“old and new”). Pope Leo’s first public reference to AI came on his second full day as Pope, in a speech to the College of Cardinals. (Read the article for further developments.)

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EWTN News

Bishop invites Catholics to ‘defend your faith by knowing it better’

By Diego López Colín, April 23, 2026

As part of the commemoration of the centenary of the Cristero War in Mexico, the bishop of Zacatecas, Sigifredo Noriega Barceló, urged the faithful to deepen their knowledge of their Catholic faith in order to know how to defend it. The Cristero War, also known as the “Cristiada,” was an armed conflict that erupted in 1926 after President Plutarco Elías Calles tightened the enforcement of the anticlerical articles contained in the 1917 constitution. In response, on July 31, 1926, the Mexican bishops suspended public worship throughout the country. Subsequently, the federal government responded with an intensified persecution of Catholics. Noriega explained that the Catholic Church is currently engaged in a “plan to recover the memory” of the war, with the aim of reflecting on “the significance” of the Cristiada “at that time, and the implications it holds for our own time.” The bishop recalled that many who died remained “faithful even to the point of risking their lives.” Now, 100 years later, it appears that for many Catholics “the religious principles governing our lives are not as solid.”

OSV & EWTN News, with ChurchPOP for 4/23/26

OSV News

OSV’s seasoned reporters - April 23, 2026

OSV News — information service and evangelization partner that enables dioceses to connect and boost engagement with the faithful by sharing timely, trustworthy, and accurate content about what is happening in the Church and the world.

• Christians protest after Pakistani court says forced marriage of Christian girl, 13, is legal - by Aftab Alexander Mughal - Christians in Pakistan are protesting a controversial court ruling that upheld the marriage of a 13-year-old Christian girl to a 30-year-old Muslim man, a case widely known as "Maria's case." The girl's family says she was abducted and forcibly converted.

• US appeals court allows Texas schools to display Ten Commandments - by Kate Scanlon - A federal appeals court on April 21 narrowly upheld a Texas law requiring public school classrooms to display the Ten Commandments. The ruling rejected arguments that the law established a religion, arguing that it "requires no religious exercise or observance."

• Diocese of Peoria releases schedule of pilgrimage events for Sheen beatification - by OSV News - April 22, 2026 - The schedule begins with a nine-day novena of holy hours at 7 p.m. every evening at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Peoria, Illinois. “The Sheen Pilgrimage is a spiritual experience centered around prayer, reflection, and celebration,” the diocese said.

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 23, 2026

EWTN provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• Canary Islands bishop on migration: ‘We feel powerless’ - By Nicolás de Cárdenas - The bishops of the two Canary Islands dioceses discuss migration there from Africa, an issue likely to be addressed by Pope Leo XIV during his June visit.

• German cardinal instructs priests to facilitate same-sex couple blessings - By Alexander Folz - Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who has served as archbishop of Munich and Freising in Germany since 2008, has instructed the priests and full-time pastoral staff in the archdiocese to introduce the controversial handout "Blessing Gives Strength to Love" as the basis of pastoral care.

• Southern Poverty Law Center indicted for fraudulently paying informants inside extremist groups - By Tessa Gervasini - The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled some traditionalist Catholic groups as hate groups over views related to gender, sexuality, and marriage. No Catholic groups were mentioned in the indictment.

ChurchPOP Trending

ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - April 23, 2026

“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”

Job Hunting or Struggling at Work? Try This Powerful Novena to Saint Joseph the Worker - Are you in need of employment or any other work-related issue? Turn to Saint Joseph the Worker, a powerful intercessor for workers and the unemployed.

12 Catholic Ways to Comfort a Grieving Loved One After Someone Dies - What helped you the most during a time of grief? The Church offers concrete ways to care for the soul of the deceased and lovingly support those who are grieving. Here are 12 ways to do so.

Vietnam POW Secretly Made Rosaries from Bread in Prison Camp, Risking Punishment - “It was a rosary made out of bread. One of the older guys was Catholic, and that’s what he did—he made rosaries.” - Former POW in Vietnam

Nutshell reflections for 4/23/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection - VIDEO - April 23, 2026

Thursday of the Third Week of Easter

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Church Life Journal

Technology and the fragmentation of society

By Colin Miller, April 23, 2026

Intensive use of technology, and especially digital technology, makes it more difficult to be a Christian. There is a widespread myth that the only “moral” or “spiritual” questions about technology concern how we use it. On the contrary, it is no longer possible to use technology without it using us: tool use always habituates us to being particular kinds of people. In our day, the use of technology shapes our character in a way contrary to the formation demanded by the Gospel. While it is true that technology reorganizes each of us morally and spiritually, it has also reorganized and continues to reorganize society from top to bottom, again in ways harmful to the Church. Coming to an adequate grasp of our current situation requires that we first give a minimal account of key characteristics of healthy communities. For the last 200 years, increasingly, food, medicine, childcare, transportation, tools, entertainment, education, clothing, eldercare, housing, and the like have come to be provided outside families, neighborhoods, cities, and parishes.

National Catholic Register

Why Catholic media matters

By Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer, April 22, 2026

Mainstream media was quick to highlight recent friction between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV through a partisan lens. What was missing from their reporting was not better sourcing or airtime, but a framework that takes seriously both the responsibilities of political leadership and the prophetic role of the Church. That is precisely what Catholic media exists to provide. And why it matters. We are heirs to a remarkable tradition. The Church has always recognized every new medium as an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel. No one grasped this more instinctively than Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, whose beatification is set for Sept. 24, 2026. Once dubbed “God’s microphone,” Archbishop Sheen proclaimed God’s truth to untold millions through radio, print, and television. That tradition is alive and well. This is not a romantic abstraction. Catholic media saves souls. Authoritarian regimes know it. That is precisely why, when governments seek to crush a people’s spirit, they always target the Church’s means of communication.

Providence

Truman’s Decision to Intervene in Greece and Turkey in 1947

By Richard Allen Hyde, April 21, 2026

On March 12, 1947, President Truman asked Congress in person for assistance to Greece and Turkey to preserve their systems of democratic governance and territorial integrity from the threat of Soviet communism. Clark Clifford‘s memoirs, Counsel to the President, wrote: “For most members of Congress, this was not so much a historic occasion as another unfortunate foreign problem to confront when what voters really wanted was housing, jobs, and meat.” The news was not welcome, but not unexpected either. Congress approved his request for $400 million two months later, on May 22, 1947. This became the basis of a bipartisan American foreign policy for decades to come, not just a declaration of principles but an allocation of capital. Congress and the President worked acrimoniously and yet effectively. The Marshall Plan soon appropriated a much greater sum for the aid of Europe. The country was no less divided over a wide variety of issues than it is today.

Wild at Heart

What hope feels like

By John Eldredge, April 23, 2026

We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that sees for itself is not hope. For who hopes for what one sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with endurance. (Romans 8:22–25) Amazing. Paul is passing along to us the secret of the sojourning heart. We live in hope, and he says hoping is waiting. And groaning. When was the last time you heard that in a sermon or the title of a new book? You, Too, Can Groan Inwardly While You Wait Eagerly! Everything I’ve seen lately offers a sure-fire way to “get what you want.” How to be a success at work. How to be a success at love. How to succeed in work and love at the same time. Things are different now. Now I wonder, what am I still arranging for? I should like to let it go too.

Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay

Catholic Nutshell News is a subscription service hosted by SubStack. Get up to a dozen recent articles, Monday through Saturday, to review regarding newsworthy issues. An easy way to browse top Catholic news and information services on the net. Edited by John Pearring.

Listen to an audio podcast of today’s Catholic Nutshell News on the Substack App!

At the top of your phone, while in the Substack app to read our post, you can press the ▶️ play button and have Catholic Nutshell News read to you daily …

Unless otherwise noted, the bible references linked in the posts are from the USCCB website online publication of the Books of the Bible.

{Catholic Nutshell News, LLC is a registered Trade Name in the State of Colorado. Identified as a legal entity with the U.S. Treasury.}

“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”

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“I’ll pray for thee from my pistachio tree”

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“Worth your weight in walnuts”

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“We see through new tender verdant pecan leaves”

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Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."

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“The greatest thing since peanut butter & jelly”

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Please support the following Catholic (and Catholic-friendly) news services and spiritual support sites. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.

CatholicVote

Illinois’ 5 bills aimed at expanding, normalizing abortion

By Hannah Hiester, April 15, 2026

The Illinois Legislature is considering five bills that, if passed, would reduce state monitoring of abortions and abortion pills, require foster parents to support abortions, and establish a public fund to pay for abortions. The first bill, HB 4834, excludes abortion pills and hormonal prescriptions, such as testosterone and estrogen, from the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program. Bill HB 4839 aims to eliminate the requirement for fetal death certificates to be issued for babies who die or are aborted before 20 weeks. Under HB 4966, pro-abortion ideologies would be forced upon foster families giving homes to children from out-of-state, requiring families to “maintain an environment” that is “supportive” of their foster child’s “reproductive health decisions.” HB 5295 would allow health care providers to exclude abortion-related information from women’s medical histories to keep the records private from out-of-state entities. The final bill, HB 5408, would establish an “Abortion Access Fund Grant Program” using taxpayer dollars, which would pay for women to have abortions if their insurance does not cover them.

Religion News Service

Gen Z women are losing their religion

By Bob Smietana, April 15, 2026

Women have long been the backbone of religion in America. They are more likely than men to identify as religious, say faith is important in their lives, attend services, and pray. That’s especially true among older women, according to data from the Pew Research Center. But times are changing. And more young women seem to be giving up on God — or at least organized religion. A new report released Wednesday (April 15) from Washington, D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute found that 43% of adult women under 30 identify as “none” — those who claim no religious identity. That’s up from 29% in 2013. PRRI found that unaffiliated young women outnumber unaffiliated men (35%). Overall, PRRI found that 39% of Americans under 30 identify as “none.” The findings conflict with claims of a religious boom among young Americans. Pew found that only 57% of young women and 58% of young men identify with a religion — a virtual tie. Deckman said the data reflects political and social realities. Young women, she said, aren’t interested in the kind of traditional gender roles that conservative religious groups are promoting.

Crux

China pressing underground Catholics to join the ‘official’ church

By David Crary, AP, April 16, 2026

Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church while tightening surveillance and travel restrictions on all of China’s estimated 12 million Catholics, a rights group said Wednesday. China’s Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn’t recognize papal authority and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution. In 2018, Pope Francis sought to ease Vatican-China tensions with a deal that gave the state-controlled church a say in naming bishops — a task traditionally exclusive to the pope. Despite that deal, “Catholics in China face escalating repression that violates their religious freedoms,” said Yalkun Uluyol, a China researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Pope Leo XIV should urgently review the agreement and press Beijing to end the persecution and intimidation of underground churches, clergy, and worshippers.”

The Pillar

Leo encounters ‘the now-adult Church in Africa’

By Edgar Beltrán, April 10, 2026

The Pillar spoke about the significance of the pope’s first trip to Africa with Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the section of first evangelization and new particular churches of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization. Pope Leo XIV will be visiting Algeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Cameroon from April 13 to April 23. “In these countries, you have four or five of the major languages spoken throughout the African continent. English and French are spoken in Cameroon, Portuguese in Angola, Spanish in Equatorial Guinea, and Arabic in Algeria. So, from the linguistic point of view, all these countries represent the entire African continent,” said Nwachukwu. He added that Algeria is in the Maghreb, Northern Africa. Cameroon sits at a very strategic position, the meeting point between the Western and Eastern central parts of Africa. Further south, you have Angola, and Equatorial Guinea represents insular Africa, because the capital, Malabo, is on an island. “The thing is that while political parties and social groups quite often operate with different platforms, we Christians operate with a common platform, Jesus Christ, the word of God.”

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Aleteia

AI writes faster than we can think — that’s a problem

By Daniel Esparza, April 16, 2025

Evil has always appeared in brutally recognizable forms: war, cruelty, contempt for the weak, the gradual hardening of the heart. Yet Hannah Arendt discerned a quieter danger alongside them. Evil can take root where people no longer think carefully about what they say and do. It passes through formulas, habits, clichés, and the easy shelter of borrowed language. That insight feels urgent in the age of artificial intelligence. That is where the deeper concern lies. AI can help with routine tasks. It can lighten repetitive work. It can support research, medicine, and communication when guided by sound judgment. Pope Leo has said as much, while also arguing that every evaluation of AI must keep the full good of the human person in view, materially, intellectually, and spiritually. Still, language formed at machine speed can weaken a discipline that moral life depends on: the patient testing of words. The real issue, then, is larger than writing. It is the work of thinking.

Angelus News

Blessing of Animals: Once blessing cows, now poodles & iguanas

By Isabel González, April 15, 2026

A day before Easter, on Holy Saturday, the historic district in Los Angeles transformed into a chaotic, joyful intersection of daily life and faith as the area hosted the annual Blessing of the Animals led by Archbishop José H. Gomez. “According to ancient traditions, it was the animals who were the first to recognize the resurrection of Christ,” Archbishop Gomez said. “Today we honor that witness by asking God’s blessing, that we may share in the beauty of creation and in the mystery of redemption and worship.” Back when Los Angeles was still an agricultural pueblo, priests from the nearby La Placita Church would walk out to bless local farmers’ livestock. Today, livestock has mostly given way to household pets, a sign of modern times. But the intention these days is the same: entrusting what we love to God’s care.

National Catholic Register

Is the ‘Culture of Death’ committing suicide?

By Joseph Pearce, April 4, 2026

If you give the devil enough rope, he’ll hang himself. This is true, but it’s not the whole truth. The problem is that he’ll hang you first. The devil hangs his own disciples, which is tragic enough, but he also hangs the innocent. These timeless cautionary thoughts should be kept in mind as we survey the way that the culture of death in the decadent West is collapsing in its own hedonistic too-muchness. Like most countries in the collapsing, decadent Europe, Icelanders are following the Nazis through the practice of eugenics to exterminate the “unfit.” 85% of expectant mothers undergo prenatal testing, and close to 100% of them choose to kill their child if he or she is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Iceland is not an isolated example, an idiosyncratic anomaly, but a microcosmic representative of what is happening throughout the decadent West in general and the European Union in particular. All nations that have adopted the culture of death are on the same suicidal path.

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EWTN News

Bishops reaffirm just war limits amid Vance’s pushback

By EWTN News Staff, April 15, 2026

The U.S. bishops’ chair for doctrine issued a clarification on April 15, reaffirming that Catholic just war theory imposes strict moral limits on the use of military force and emphasizing that it is not a political endorsement of war but a moral framework. The statement came as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, the latter a Catholic, have taken issue with papal remarks claiming that “anyone who is a disciple of Christ” is “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.” Speaking at an April 14 event hosted by the conservative group Turning Point USA, Vance publicly criticized Pope Leo on his anti-war remarks, asking: “How can you say God is never on the side of those who wield the sword?” Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop James Massa's statement on the subject underscored that Christians are obliged to critically evaluate claims in favor of armed conflict rather than assume their moral legitimacy. AVance said he likes it when the pope comments on public issues — including immigration, abortion, and war and peace — because it “invites a conversation,” even when there is disagreement.

Angelus News, EWTN & ChurchPOP for 4/16/26

Angelus News

Angelus joins in the great work of evangelization - April 16, 2026

The mission of Angelus is to provide our readers with the best in Catholic news, first-rate analysis of events and trends shaping the Church and the world

• LA Archdiocese announces pilgrimage sites, indulgences for St. Francis Jubilee - Angelus Staff - Apr 07, 2026 - Pope Leo XIV proclaimed 2026 as the Jubilee Year for St. Francis. Archbishop José H. Gomez has declared 15 sites in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles as pilgrimage destinations, ensuring that LA Catholics don’t have to travel all the way to Assisi to participate in the commemoration.

• Why do we try to control who gets to receive God’s mercy? - Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI - Apr 07, 2026 -After 50 years in ministry, I’m inclined to the old priest’s advice: We need to risk more of God’s mercy. The place of justice and truth should never be ignored — letting the infinite, unbounded, unconditional, undeserved mercy of God flow more freely. The mercy of God is as accessible as the nearest water tap. Like Isaiah, proclaim a mercy that has no price tag

• A ‘typo’ actually makes a bishop’s role and place clearer - Scott Hahn | Letter and Spirit - Apr 14, 2026 - “Your bishop presides in the place of God,” said Ignatius of Antioch, around A.D. 107. Did Ignatius mean “place” in the sense of location? Or did he mean place in the sense that the bishop is the agent of God’s will? I learned that the answer is — both!

EWTN News

EWTN’s top headlines — April 16, 2026

EWTN provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.

• Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon urges Christians and Muslims to heal wounds of conflict - By Marco Mancini and Veronica Giacometti - During the interreligious peace gathering, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda said the popeʼs presence was consoling for the people. The meeting included testimonies from local people, including Catholics, Protestants, and Muslims.

• Lawmaker calls for allowing crucifix symbol on veterans’ headstones - By Madalaine Elhabbal - Nearly 50 lawmakers, including Rep. Greg Steube, R-Florida, are urging the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to make the change. Catholic veterans do not currently have the option to select a crucifix, an emblem of belief that most accurately represents the faith of nearly 20% of all veterans.

• Nearly 500 leaders will gather in Washington, D.C., to read the entire Bible aloud - By Tessa Gervasini - America Reads the Bible is a national Scripture-reading event and movement led by Christians Engaged, a nonprofit organization committed “to discipling Americans on biblical worldview and their responsibilities as citizens to pray, vote, and engage for the well-being of our nation.”

ChurchPOP Trending

ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - April 16, 2026

“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”

Why the Oscar-Winning Classic ‘The Song of Bernadette’ Still Stirs the Soul: 5 Memorable Quotes - In honor of the April 15 feast of St. Bernadette, let’s revisit the inspiring, Oscar-winning “The Song of Bernadette.”

How I Met Your Mother: The Wild Catholic Classified Ad Behind Pope Benedict XVI’s Birth - Here’s a fact you probably never heard: Pope Benedict XVI’s parents met through a personal ad in a Catholic newspaper.

The Most Underrated Pope of Our Lifetime? Why Gen Z Catholics Are Falling in Love with Benedict XVI - Why are Gen Z Catholics falling in love with Pope Benedict XVI? Here are nine reasons!

Nutshell reflections for 4/16/26:

USCCB Daily Reflection - VIDEO - April 16, 2026

Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

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Church Life Journal

Judah’s confession: Absolution is the beginning of the journey

By Gary A. Anderson, April 16, 2026

Consider David's ancestor, Judah, in the book of Genesis. As you may recall, the patriarch Jacob had twelve sons, each representing a future tribe of Israel. Judah, the fourth son, holds particular significance because David eventually emerges from a city within Judah’s tribal territory. Since Judah serves as a "type" or "figure" for the royal line, it is fitting that he proves his leadership not through a show of power, but through a courageous display of contrition. In the brothers’ attempt to murder their brother, Joseph, Reuben intervenes for a moment, but his efforts are not completely successful. This prompts Judah to suggest that they sell Joseph into slavery. Miraculously alive, Joseph is eventually reunited with his family, but provides a test with the next favored son to be sent into slavery. By offering to take Benjamin's place—accepting a life of Egyptian servitude—Judah finally atoned for his earlier crime of selling Joseph. He effectively stands in the place of the one who had taken Joseph's place.

National Catholic Register

An open letter to Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, SJ

By George Weigel, April 15, 2026

The question of who may be ordained is not a matter of discipline but of divine revelation and the nature of the Church itself. In an article recently published by a major German Catholic website, [Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, archbishop of Luxembourg} suggested that the question of whether the Church can ordain women has not been definitively settled: “I cannot imagine how a Church can continue to exist in the long run if half of God’s people suffer because they have no access to ordained ministry.” Are you, for example, suggesting that there has been something essentially wrong with the Catholic understanding of Holy Orders for two millennia? How would such a notion square with the Lord’s promise to preserve his Church in truth through the continual outpouring of the Holy Spirit (John 15:16, 16:13)? Did Christ get it wrong in structuring the Church and its ordained ministry as they have been structured for two millennia? Doesn’t that suggest a rather clericalist understanding of the Kingdom-life we are living now (Mark 1:15)?

Providence

As WWI fades from memory, its lessons are relevant as ever

By Sean Durns, April 15, 2026

World War I, the famed diplomat George Kennan observed, was the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century. Once billed as the “war to end all wars,” the conflict instead birthed World War II and the Cold War. It was, in many respects, the prequel to a century of horrors. A generation that remembered the costs of industrialized warfare is no longer with us, physically or spiritually, and we are the worse for it. Before the war, it was possible to traverse through much of the known world without so much as a passport. For nearly eight decades, much of the world, and certainly the West, has experienced smaller-scale wars and insurgencies—Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Taliban presented challenges of their own, but they are most certainly not China, an industrial superpower with 232 times America’s current shipbuilding capacity. Beijing has been engaged in one of the largest military buildups in modern history. As Mark Twain famously remarked, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.”

(A review of Odd Arne Westad's book, The Coming Storm: Power, Conflict, and Warnings from History)

Wild at Heart

God is our ‘ezer’

By John Eldredge, April 16, 2026

When God creates Eve, he calls her an ezer kenegdo. “It is not good for the man to be alone, I shall make him [an ezer kenegdo]” (Genesis 2:18 Alter). Hebrew scholar Robert Alter, who has spent years translating the book of Genesis, says that this phrase is “notoriously difficult to translate.” The various attempts in English include “helper,” “companion,” and the notorious “help meet.” Why are these translations so incredibly wimpy, boring, flat ... disappointing? What is a help meet, anyway? What little girl dances through the house singing, “One day I shall be a help meet”? Companion? A dog can be a companion. Helper? Sounds like Hamburger Helper. Alter is getting close when he translates it “sustainer beside him.” The word ezer is used only twenty other places in the entire Old Testament. And in every other instance, the person being described is God himself, when you need him to come through for you desperately.

Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay

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