Catholic Nutshell News: Friday 5/29/26
What Catholics should know: Court dismisses pro-life challenge; Soaring fuel and fertilizer prices for farmers; Church condemns Honduras massacres; & Italy’s Scouts open doors to LGBT+ leaders
Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
Your 5-minute Catholic briefing for busy faithful. Today's sources: National Catholic Register, EWTN News, OSV News, Zeale, Bishop Barron, & Aleteia. (Catholic Nutshell is a FREE subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
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Zeale News
Appeals court dismisses pro-life challenge to Michigan abortion law
By Hannah Hiester, May 28, 2026
A federal appeals court this week upheld a lower court’s dismissal of a lawsuit brought by Right to Life of Michigan challenging a 2022 constitutional amendment that added the “right” to abortion. The decision affirms the district court’s September 2025 holding that Right to Life of Michigan and the other pro-life entities, politicians, and individuals involved in the suit lacked standing to challenge the amendment. As Zeale News previously reported, the original complaint, filed against Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, argued that the amendment created an unconstitutional “super-right” to abortion. During the appeals process, however, the pro-life plaintiffs narrowed their argument, hoping to establish standing on the grounds that the amendment threatens parental rights by allowing minor girls to obtain abortions without their parents’ consent.
Related: Lawmakers back US bishops’ bid to block abortion from pregnant worker protection rules, by Kate Scanlon, OSV News, May 28, 2026
OSV News
Soaring fuel and fertilizer prices: Catholic farmers lean on faith
By Kimberley Heatherington, May 27, 2026
The American Farm Bureau Federation’s April 14 report noted, “Rising input costs tied to the conflict in the Middle East are adding strain to an already challenging farm economy.” The report said 70% of American farmers can’t afford all the fertilizer they need, while noting farm diesel fuel prices have increased 46% since the end of February, raising costs for fieldwork, fertilizer transport, and irrigation. As a result, nearly six in 10 farmers report worsening finances — a situation it said indicates “the urgent need for immediate economic assistance to keep farm gates open.” James Ennis, executive director of Catholic Rural Life, said that with the farming vocation comes a certain outlook, one trained to expect the unexpected. “When I talk to a lot of the farmers who have been farming for a long time, they look at me and say, ‘Jim, this is just a part of our life. Their faith is deeply rooted in the land and trusting the Lord to provide and help them through a difficult time.”
Aleteia
Neocatechumenal Way co-initiator on road to beatification
By Matthew Green, May 27, 2026
Within a week of the 60th anniversary of its founding, the Neocatechumenal Way will celebrate the end of the diocesan phase of the cause of beatification of its “co-initiator,” Carmen Hernández. She joined Kiko Argüello in the 1960s, evangelizing in the shanty towns of Madrid, Spain. Their ministry proclaiming Christ to people on the margins of society gave rise to a “theological-catechetical synthesis” which is at the core of the “process of adult evangelization that is the Neocatechumenal Way,” according to the movement’s website. According to Spanish Catholic news outlet Cope, Cardinal José Cobo Cano, the archbishop of Madrid, will celebrate a Mass to mark the anniversary of the foundation on May 30 in the Madrid’s cathedral. In 1963–1964, she spent time in the Holy Land. Upon returning to Spain, Hernández began evangelizing in the shantytowns of Madrid. Carmen Hernández died in Madrid on July 19, 2016, at the age of 85.
National Catholic Register
Notre Dame rector sexually abused students for 17 Years
By Matthew McDonald, May 28, 2026
A former rector at a residence hall at the University of Notre Dame frequently weighed male students naked and alone in a deserted locker room and engaged in unwanted sexual contact with some of them during a 17-year span in the 1980s and 1990s, an investigative report commissioned by the university found. Victims told the investigator that they reported the behavior of Holy Cross Father Thomas King to various Notre Dame officials over the course of several years, but that inquiries and follow-up were slow and lackluster, the report found.“ While Notre Dame’s commitment to addressing clergy abuse has been clear, the University’s execution has been inconsistent,” states the 25-page report by Helen Cantwell, a lawyer with the New York law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, which Notre Dame hired to investigate the allegations in September 2025.
Related: French laywoman releases memoir accusing priest of sexual abuse - By Fionn Shiner, CRUX, May 28, 2026
EWTN News
Trump welcomes Afrikaner refugees: Bishops call for others
By Tyler Arnold, May 28, 2026
U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration has raised the cap for Afrikaner refugees but kept capacity restrictions on refugees from other countries, which sparked disapproval from Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of the Diocese of Victoria, Texas. Cahill, who chairs the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, welcomed the decision to admit 10,000 more Afrikaners as refugees but said in a statement that resettlement opportunities should be more broadly available. Afrikaners are a white minority descendent of Dutch settlers. In February, the White House issued a statement that accused the South African government of racial discrimination against Afrikaners through land seizures permitted under the Expropriation Act 13 of 2024. The South African government denies racial discrimination. On May 28, the administration updated the Federal Register to raise the cap on Afrikaner refugees from 7,500 to 17,500, citing an “unforeseen emergency refugee situation.”
Related: “Don’t react emotionally” — Catholic Bishops on South Africa tensions: Bishop Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, “Let us live in unity and love,” by Christopher Kevin Asima, Citi Newsroom, May 29, 2026
Related: US bishops criticize Trump admin carving out refugee slots for South African Afrikaners, By Mary Rose, Zeale News, May 28, 2026
The CRUX
Church condemns series of massacres in Honduras
By Eduardo Campos Lima, May 29, 2026
The Honduran Church has lamented the security crisis the Central American nation has faced this year, with at least 60 people killed since January. On May 21, 20 rural workers were killed before they began their daily activities at an oil palm plantation. The crime occurred in the community of Rigores in the municipality of Trujillo. Only a few hours later, five police officers were kidnapped and killed in the city of Omoa, in northern Honduras near the Guatemalan border, while attempting to capture drug traffickers. Their bodies were dismembered and burned. On May 25, four people were killed, and another was wounded in La Lima, in northern Honduras. According to Jesuit Father Gregorio Vasquez, who coordinates the National Apostolic Council in Honduras, such massacres “cannot be analyzed without taking into consideration the wave of violence caused both by common and organized crime.”
ANSA English
Italy’s Scouts open doors to LGBT+ Scout leaders
By ANSA Staff, May 28, 2026
Italy’s Scouts have opened the door to LGBT+ Scout leaders. The council of the Italian Association of Catholic Guides and Scouts (AGESCI) on Thursday approved a document stating that sexual orientation cannot be a reason to exclude some who wants to be a Scout leader. “AGESCI has reached the conclusion that... emotional orientation and gender identity cannot constitute exclusion criteria in the discernment that community leaders are called upon to exercise when an adult requests to join the association to play an educational role,” the document said. It stated that, given the teaching of being welcoming at the heart of the association, it is “essential to promote paths aimed at overcoming homophobic, lesbophobic and transphobic feelings and attitudes.
Related: Italian bishop announces plan to evangelize Muslims in his diocese: offering Christ, not just material aid, ZENIT, May 28, 2026
Zenit News
Report to reveal the scale and potential of UK Catholic giving
By ZENIT Staff, May 27, 2026
A major new study, ‘Catholic Generosity’, will be launched early this summer, offering the most comprehensive analysis to date of Catholic philanthropy, charitable activity, and wealth in the United Kingdom. Commissioned by Catholics in Fundraising (CiF), and prepared by Astarita Aldrich Ward, the report sets out, for the first time, an evidence-based picture of the Catholic charitable and philanthropic landscape across the country. With approximately 5.3 million Catholics in the UK and billions in associated household wealth, the report highlights a largely underexplored intersection of faith, philanthropy, and capital. It provides a rare, data-driven lens on a major but often overlooked part of the UK’s philanthropic ecosystem, one with deep institutional roots, global reach, and long-term societal impact.
Keep informed - 5/29/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Big Pulpit, EWTN, & the Loop
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: May 29, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
Concerns Raised Over Leo XIV’s Designation of Just War Doctrine as ‘Outdated’ – Michael Haynes
Why Sacred Music Belongs in the Liturgy, Not the Concert Hall – D. Bevan at The Catholic Herald
Photos: Natl Eucharistic Pilgrimage Processes Through Historic Savannah, Georgia – The Reg
Video: U.S.C.C.B. Just Handed Huge Loss By The Supreme Court – Anthony Stine, Ph.D.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — May 29, 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.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson - By Ishmael Adibuah - The pontiff met with Johnson at the Vatican on May 28 and was formally invited to visit his native city next year. The Democratic mayor sharply criticized Trump in remarks to journalists, calling him a “tyrant” as well as a “disgrace” for involving the U.S. in the Israel-Iran conflict
Fulani militants cause most deaths in Nigeria's religious violence, USCIRF says - By Madalaine Elhabbal - “Central Nigeria remains entrenched in an intense, daily, and seemingly perpetual crisis of insecurity,” the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said in a recent report.
U.S. bishops’ report shows slight rise in abuse claims as settlement amounts surge 69% - By Tessa Gervasini - Abuse allegations rose slightly in 2025 but remained far below 2021 levels, while settlement amounts paid during 2025 increased by 69% over the previous year, according to the U.S. bishops’ annual report.
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Zeale / Loop / CatholicVote
Zeale is CatholicVote, hosting the LOOP
Over half a million people receive the LOOP news rundown six days a week. Zeale is the new home of the LOOP. Zeale is a project of CatholicVote, America’s top Catholic advocacy organization leading the fight for faith, family, and freedom.
CATHOLICVOTE CONTACTS DOJ OVER NATS SCANDAL - CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt has sent formal letters to the Washington Nationals and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division demanding answers over alleged religious discrimination against Catholic pitcher Trevor Williams. Here's the latest. READ
JUDGE REJECTS DEM EFFORT TO STOP ELECTION INTEGRITY ORDER - A federal judge yesterday ruled that Trump’s executive order seeking to create federal voter lists and tighten rules for mail-in voting must remain in place for now. The ruling rejected a request from Democrats to block the order. READ
POPE TO LEAD GLOBAL ROSARY FOR PEACE MAY 30 - Pope Leo XIV will lead a worldwide Rosary for peace and for those afflicted by war and violence. He will lead the prayer at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes in the Vatican Gardens at 7 p.m. local time. Rome is six hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone, so this would be 1 p.m. ET. READ
May 29, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Friday of the Eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Catholic365
We represent 4% of all human existence
By Daniel Mark, May 21, 2026
If you guesstimate the number of human beings who ever existed, including those who have been born, who died in childbirth or as infants; who naturally miscarried, were intentionally aborted, and who died through the abortion pill, chemical abortifacient “contraception”, and IUDs; those who have died or been discarded through the IVF process, and those who died before before implantation into their mother’s wombs — if you add up all conceived human beings from around 80,000 years ago when evidence of personal, intellectual, creative activity indicates the beginning of human population on earth as the body-soul composite we are today — you end up with a guesstimated population of around 200 billion (150 to 220 according to Grok). Today, there are only a little more than 8 billion people walking the earth. We represent approximately 4% of all human beings.
Catholic Weekly
Robert Louis Stevenson defended Fr. Damien, the leper
By Michael Cook, May 29, 2026
A couple of weeks ago, on 10 May, the church celebrated the feast day of St Damien of Molokai. Even before he died of leprosy in 1889, the Belgian missionary was famed around the world for the courage and compassion he showed as the chaplain of an isolated settlement for Hawaiian lepers. He had volunteered, knowing that Molokai would be, in all likelihood, a death sentence. And it was. Fr Damien had an Australian connection, the great 19th-century novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. RLS is best known for adventures like Treasure Island and Kidnapped, novels about swashbuckling heroes from the British Isles. RLS published only one piece of work in Sydney, but it is a remarkable one – a blistering defense of Fr Damien's reputation. He was an improbable defender of a Catholic priest. As a proud Scot, he was deeply dyed in Presbyterianism. But he was big-hearted, passionate, and idealistic.
Aleteia
Ways you can regulate your emotions
By Cerith Gardiner & Claire de Campeau, May 29, 2026
Few things can hijack an ordinary day faster than emotion: One difficult email, one anxious thought at 3 a.m., one awkward conversation replayed repeatedly in the shower, and suddenly the mind begins spiraling into irritation, sadness, fear, frustration, or catastrophizing worthy of an Oscar-winning performance. Dr. Bernard Anselem, a French doctor specializing in neurosciences, recently addressed this question in Aleteia France, offering several practical techniques for better emotional regulation. “An intense emotion lasts only a short time if we do not maintain it,” he explains. That idea alone feels surprisingly liberating. Because while emotions can feel overwhelming in the moment, most people have also experienced the strange phenomenon of accidentally (or intentionally) intensifying them through endless mental replay.
Bishop Barron
The Lord must do in us now what he did in the temple then
By Bishop Robert Barron, May 29, 2026
Friends, at the heart of today’s Gospel is the cleansing of the temple. Jesus entered the great temple in Jerusalem—which for a Jew of that time was everything—and began to “drive out those selling and buying there.” Precisely because the temple was supposed to be so holy, Jesus was flabbergasted at what had happened to it and how the trading of merchants had come to dominate. From the earliest days, Christian writers and spiritual teachers saw the temple as symbolic of the human person. St. Paul himself refers to the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, where prayer and communion with God are central. But what happens to us sinners? The money changers and the merchants enter. What is supposed to be a place of prayer becomes a den of thieves. And so the Lord must do in us now what he did in the temple then: a little housecleaning. What shape is the temple of your soul in? Suppose that Jesus has made a whip of cords, knotted with the Ten Commandments. What would he clear out of you?
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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