Catholic Nutshell News: Friday 10/10/25
Topics include: Global ban on surrogacy; St. Gemma relic ‘not of supernatural origin’; Latin Mass faithful fill Mooresville chapel; & Israel's list of 250 Palestinian prisoners it will release
Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
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Catholic News Agency
Report to UN calls for global ban on surrogacy
By Madalaine Elhabbal, October 9, 2025
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls with ADF International voiced opposition to the practice of surrogacy at an Oct. 9 U.N. event hosted by the Italian government. Surrogacy is responsible for inflicting large-scale violence, abuse, and exploitation on women and children, said Reem Alsalem at the event, according to an ADF International press release. Alsalem is set to present her report on surrogacy before the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 10. “Surrogacy should not be prohibited only domestically, but it should also be addressed internationally,” said Eugenia Rocella, Italian minister for Family, Natality, and Equal Opportunities. Italy recently became the first country to ban surrogacy both within and outside its borders, ADF noted in its release, adding that Slovakia also adopted a constitutional amendment banning the practice last month.
The Pillar
Vibrating St. Gemma relic ‘not of supernatural origin’
By Michelle La Rosa, October 9, 2025
After investigating a reliquary that appeared to move on its own this week, the Diocese of Lincoln has determined that the phenomenon is not a supernatural occurrence. Bishop James Conley of Lincoln told The Pillar Thursday that diocesan officials think a slight vibration in the wall, from the HVAC and electronic systems, was enough to cause the delicate reliquary to shake. On October 8, the diocese received reports of a reliquary holding a relic of St. Gemma Galgani that appeared to be moving without an apparent cause. The relic was displayed in a shadowbox with several other relics at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, located at the Newman Center on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln campus. Videos posted online showed the reliquary of St. Gemma appearing to vibrate and move, while the other reliquaries around it remained still.
CatholicVote
Latin Mass faithful fill Mooresville chapel on first Sunday
By Annie Ferguson, October 9, 2025
625 members of the faithful in the Diocese of Charlotte attended the first Traditional Latin Masses (TLM) held at the Chapel of the Little Flower in Mooresville, North Carolina, over the weekend. After months of controversy over Bishop Michael Martin’s decision to move all parish-based offerings of the TLM to a single chapel, members of four parishes in Charlotte, Greensboro, and Tryon came together Oct. 5 to worship in Mooresville — at least a two-hour drive for those in the mountain region. They had hoped to persuade the bishop to ask for an extension, something that Rome has recently granted for bishops who requested one. The traditional liturgies at the four North Carolina parishes drew about 1,200 congregants each weekend. The new Mooresville chapel holds about 350 people and offers two Mass times on Sundays and holy days of obligation only.
National Catholic Register
A dynamic Catholic church stands up to a decaying regime
By Victor Gaetan, October 9, 2025
A rich country rendered poor by decades-long mismanagement, Cameroon is facing a presidential election on Oct. 12, and leaders of the Catholic Church have emerged as vocal opponents of the status quo. A 92-year-old incumbent, Paul Biya, is seeking reelection in the Central African country of 30 million, where the median age is 19. A Catholic whose father was a catechist, Biya came to power as prime minister in 1975, 50 years ago. He was elected president in 1982, a post he has held ever since. If the country were well governed, that might be fine. But it’s not. Endemic corruption and outright embezzlement are ruinous habits of the political class, undermining the entire nation’s standard of living, according to the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) in a fierce January letter signed by all 36 bishops.
The Times of Israel
Israel publishes list of 250 Palestinian prisoners it will release
By Charlie Summers and Nurit Yohanan, October 10, 2025
Israel has published the full list of 250 Palestinian security prisoners serving life sentences slated for release as part of the hostage-ceasefire agreement. The list, published by the Justice Ministry, comes the morning after the cabinet approved the US-backed deal, aimed at returning the remaining hostages and permanently ending the Gaza war. Of the 250 prisoners, 15 will be freed to East Jerusalem, 100 to the West Bank and 135 are slated for deportation. Some last-minute changes to the list were approved this morning, after negotiators agreed to swap 11 Fatah-affiliated prisoners with Hamas-affiliated ones. Although Hamas demanded the release of the prominent Fatah figure Marwan Barghouti, in jail for planning deadly terror attacks during the Second Intifada, he is not included on the published list. Another 1,700 Gazan detainees arrested after, but not involved in the Hamas-led October 7, attack, will be freed back to the Strip or exiled abroad.
Catholic World Report
Church must emphasize her specific nature and mission
By James Kalb, October 7, 2025
Recent trends in America point toward either tribalism or social disintegration. There is no neat solution to the problem. Still, the Church will be in a position to help mitigate it—not directly, through social engagement of some sort, but simply by being emphatically herself so she can once again be an object of strong and socially functional loyalties that transcend tribal boundaries. People to tailor their online world—which now forms much of their understanding of the world in general—to their own predilections. The result is that we increasingly live in different worlds. A recent essay by music critic and historian Ted Gioia argues that this situation will soon become much worse because of rapid developments in AI that, he argues, will make it not merely difficult but impossible to determine whether photographs, videos, and other media productions are genuine or fake.
CRUX
Church groups accompany demonstrators in Ecuador
By Eduardo Campos Lima, October 8, 2025
A national strike called by the strongest Indigenous organization in Ecuador has been promoting marches and road blockades in several regions over the past two weeks, accompanied by several Church organizations demonstrating with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) in the Andean country. They have mobilized to protest President Daniel Noboa’s decision to stop subsidizing diesel fuel. Noboa’s critics argue that ending the diesel subsidies will not only increase fuel costs but also raise the price of basic items, including food. According to Father Salvador Calva Zamora, a vicar in the town of Yacuambi, in the Amazon region, and a Church communicator, there has been “broad discontent with Noboa’s administration, but the Indigenous movement has taken the lead because they are more organized.”
Vatican News
Jesuits in the UK bringing hope behind bars
By Vatican News, October 3, 2025
On 12 October, the Catholic Church in England and Wales observes Prisoners’ Sunday, an occasion that opens Prisons Week — a week dedicated to prayer and reflection for prisoners, their families, victims of crime, prison staff, and all who work in the criminal justice system. Rooted in the Christian call to compassion and solidarity, Prisoners’ Sunday invites the faithful to look beyond prison walls and to consider how, as individuals, communities, and the Church, they can support those affected by imprisonment. The Jesuit Institute’s involvement in prisons increased substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period that isolated many communities and placed an extraordinary strain on prison chaplaincies. “We felt that prison chaplains needed some support,” said Sarah Young, a spiritual director and retreat giver with the Jesuit Institute in the UK.. “So we offered a retreat online for prison chaplains.
Big Pulpit, CNA & ChurchPOP for 10/10/25
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: October 10, 2025
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
More Than Thirty Christians Beheaded – Talia Wise at The Christian Broadcasting Network
Thoughts on Processional Cross Design – Shawn R. Tribe at Liturgical Arts Journal
Jesus Had No Siblings: 50 Biblical Arguments, & More Great Links! – The Best In Catholic Blogging
Jesus Condemns ‘Vain Repetition’ In Prayer, But Catholics Have The Rosary – Catholic Answers
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — October 10, 2025
Catholic News Agency provides reliable and free up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, with updates on the words of the Holy Father and the Holy See.
Ancient traces of St. Mark reveal Christianity’s deep roots in Libya - Oct 10, 2025 - By Madalaine Elhabbal - Though not explicitly named in the Gospels, Mark, believed to have been among the 72 disciples sent out by Christ, became one of the four Evangelists and the first patriarch of Alexandria.
51 senators ask FDA to rescind approval of new ‘generic’ abortion pill - Oct 9, 2025 - By Tyler Arnold - Sen. Lindsey Graham, joined by 50 of his colleagues, wrote that “we are deeply concerned” with the FDA’s decision.
Priest reported missing in Mexico is found dead - Oct 9, 2025 - By Diego López Colín - The body of Father Bertoldo Pantaleón Estrada was found on Oct. 6. The Mexican priest had been reported missing on Saturday, Oct. 4, in the state of Guerrero. So far, there are no details regarding the cause of death.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - October 10, 2025
‘Soul on Fire’: How Burn Survivor John O’Leary’s Catholic Faith Helped Him Turn Tragedy into Triumph - John O’Leary, the subject of the new film “Soul on Fire,” shares his remarkable story of surviving burns to 100 percent of his body
The Day the Rosary Saved Christendom: The Extraordinary Miracle of Lepanto - Desperate for survival, Pope Saint Pius V convinced as many Catholic rulers of the Mediterranean as possible to band together to stop the Ottomans, forming what they called the Holy League.
‘We Need Prayers’: Catholic Comedian Jennifer Fulwiler’s Daughter Diagnosed with Brain Tumor - Fulwiler revealed on her podcast, The Jen Fulwiler Show, that her daughter is currently in the ICU and undergoing a multiple-hour brain surgery involving several brain surgeons. “We need prayers.”
Nutshell reflections for 10/10/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection: AUDIO - October 10, 2025
Friday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Catholic Weekly
Spanish blacklists doctors who refuse to perform abortions
By OSV News, October 10, 2025
Spain’s socialist government is pushing for regional “blacklists” of doctors who object to performing abortions, sparking backlash from medical and Catholic leaders. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has urged conservative-led regions to create official registries of conscientious objectors, giving them a three-month deadline to do so or face legal action. Critics, including the National Association for the Defense of the Right to Conscientious Objection, call the move unconstitutional and discriminatory. These “are blacklists to professionally exclude doctors,” said the association’s president, Eva Martín. Sánchez also wants to enshrine abortion in Spain’s constitution, following France’s lead earlier this year. But such a move faces strong political opposition and is unlikely to pass.
Aleteia
Constructive criticism with kindness
By Cerith Gardiner, October 10, 2025
We live in a world that never stops talking — or judging. Online comments, workplace evaluations, and even family conversations can feel charged with opinions, assessments, and, too often, criticism that wounds rather than helps. Yet there are moments when correction or feedback is truly necessary. The challenge lies in offering it in a way that builds rather than breaks. In the Catholic faith, this balance is not new. Scripture encourages what it calls fraternal correction — the act of guiding another with love, for their good and not our own satisfaction. Before saying a word, ask: Why am I offering this? Timing is everything. A person already upset or embarrassed will struggle to hear even the gentlest words. Even when pointing out what’s wrong, begin with what’s right. Kindness doesn’t mean avoiding the truth. It means delivering it with gentleness and empathy.
Word on Fire
Should students adopt an Amish-like approach to AI?
By Dr. Chad Engelland, October 7, 2025
The Amish surprisingly rejected machine technology. They oddly said no to the internal combustion engine. But in doing so, whatever their reason, they held onto a tenacity of bodily being that we in vain try to recreate on our treadmills and our workout stations. When we think of the Amish, we might get hung up on their hypocrisy, how they rely on non-Amish to drive the delivery truck or to build their webpages to advertise their furniture. But when we do that, we miss the point. They don’t just opt out of machine technology fully. They also opt in to the excellence of handicraft and good old-fashioned bodily work, which forges and fashions their strong communities. We are at an Amish moment regarding AI, as this new technology is not just another incremental change. Like the advent of machine technology, it is a game-changer, promising to affect us deep down.
Catholic365
Get busy living or die!
By Elizabeth Thomas, October 9, 2025
In August, we had a “bump in the road” that had me experiencing many side effects from the ‘whiplash.’ The Doctor visits to diagnose ‘just what is going on.’
Needless to say, like Peter looking down--my mind, my spirit started to sink into the darkness of believing — ”I may be dying soon.” This attitude had me sinking even further into the darkness of depression and not caring if I lived or died. Yesterday, the added symptoms of weakness, nausea, and more thoughts of ‘now what is going on,’ came, and another Doctor appointment. This morning, thanks to others praying for me, here came Jesus, walking on the waters to pull me up and say, “Woman, get busy living, or keep on dying in despair.” I was prompted to do what had been done before, and start my day with getting music in my ears, going outside, and MOVE IT as I grooved it and danced! This is God’s therapy for a happy body and life.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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