Catholic Nutshell News: Friday 7/3/26
Catholics should know: The Philippines, still Catholic; Traditionalist groups disown SSPX; George Washington’s religious tolerance; & Over 30 countries maintain birthright citizenship
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
Philippines: Among the most religious, & overwhelmingly Catholic
By Elise Winland, July 2, 2026
The Philippines remains one of the world’s most religious countries, with nearly all adults identifying with a faith, almost nine in 10 saying religion is very important in their lives, and daily prayer rates among the highest recorded in recent global surveys, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis. A spring 2026 Pew survey found that 92% of Filipino adults identify as Christian, including 76% who are Catholic and 12% who are Protestant. The Catholic share is slightly lower than in the mid-2010s but has remained relatively stable in recent years. Pew noted that the Philippines is home to the world’s third-largest Catholic population, after Brazil and Mexico. 99% of Filipino adults say they believe in God, including 99% of Catholics and 100% of Protestants. Seventy-nine percent of Filipino adults said they pray daily, ranking the Philippines among the highest of the 36 countries Pew surveyed that year, after Indonesia (95%) and Kenya (84%).
OSV News
Traditionalist groups disown SSPX consecrations
By Jonathan Luxmoore, July 2, 2026
“I don’t agree with their decision, and don’t consider it justified — however, they’ve acted according to conscience, and it’s not for me to judge them,” said Joseph Shaw, chairman of the London-based Latin Mass Society, which belongs to an international network of traditionalist groups. “I nevertheless hope this will also lead to a change, reassuring those who don’t support the society’s action and wish to separate the liturgy from any thought of schism,” he added. The lay Catholic spoke after the four new bishops from the society, also known as the SSPX or Lefebvrists, were declared excommunicated along with their two consecrating prelates in the wake of the July 1 liturgical celebration in Écône, Switzerland, attended by a thousand priests and up to 17,000 supporters. The Latin Mass Society has continued to cooperate with local bishops, despite recent challenges. “Ever since the SSPX first emerged, some people have tried to link us with them, claiming we are all just Lefebvrists too,” said Shaw. “But the fact we share some of their views doesn’t mean we support them.”
Related: Vatican defines how schismatic SSPX members can return, I.Media, Aleteia, 07/03/26
Related: What Is the SSPX? A Look at the Traditionalist Catholic Group in Schism With the Church, Daniel Payne/EWTN News, National Catholic Register, July 2, 2026
Aleteia
America’s future depends on Catholics
By Tom Hoopes, June 21, 2026
The future of America depends on Catholics — but don’t take my word for it. St. John Paul II said, “The continuing success of American democracy depends on the degree to which each new generation, native-born and immigrant, make its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked the future of your Republic.” On his U.S visit, Pope Francis spelled out what those “moral truths” are. “One of the highlights of my visit is to stand here, before Independence Hall,” he said. “It was here that the freedoms which define this country were first proclaimed. The Declaration of Independence stated that all men and women are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, and that governments exist to protect and defend those rights.” America’s future depends on religious people, because its principles are religious principles, and Catholics in particular have a deep understanding of the nation’s founding principles.
National Catholic Register
6-year study challenges violence narrative in Nigeria
By ACI Africa/EWTN News, July 3, 2026
A new six-year study released by the Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa (ORFA) is challenging long-held assumptions about the drivers of violence in Nigeria and the religious identity of its victims, with Christians bearing the larger burden. “Killings and Abductions in Nigeria (2020–2025)” analyzes violence recorded between October 2019 and September 2025, documenting 79,323 people killed and nearly 35,000 abducted in attacks linked to what ORFA describes as terror groups. The report argues that armed groups it classifies as “Fulani Terror Groups” were responsible for far more civilian deaths than Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) during the period under review. The findings “overturn long-standing assumptions” about Nigeriaʼs violence by concluding that Boko Haram and ISWAP together accounted for only 12% of civilian killings during the six-year period, while armed groups categorized by the organization as “Fulani Terror Groups” accounted for 44%.
Related: Armed Muslims kill 31 Christians in attacks in Nigeria’s Plateau and Kaduna states - ZENIT Staff, July 1, 2026
EWTN News
Wyoming Catholic College student wins Presidential 1776 Award
By Madalaine Elhabbal, July 2, 2026
Incoming Wyoming Catholic College student Miriam Washut took home a $150,000 scholarship after winning first place in the first-ever Presidential 1776 Awards, a nationwide civics competition. Washut, who is the daughter of Wyoming Catholic College President Kyle Washut, emerged triumphant from among 20 finalists and over 8,000 students from all 50 states and territories who entered the competition. Washut, along with the second and third place winners, met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on July 1 alongside U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon. McMahon said the award “recognizes students who have demonstrated a deep understanding of America’s founding principles and enthusiasm for learning America’s story. What better way to celebrate 250 years of this great nation than by honoring those who will carry us into the next 250!”
National Catholic Reporter
George Washington’s religious tolerance predated Vatican II
By Scott Hurd, July 3, 2026
While they’ve long benefitted from religious freedom, American Catholics haven’t always enjoyed religious tolerance. This is evident to anyone who visits our nation’s capital and sees that the iconic Washington Monument was built with different shades of stone. In 1854, Pope Pius IX donated a marble block from an ancient Roman temple for the monument’s construction. It bore the inscription “A Roma Americae,” Latin for “From Rome to America.” This incensed members of the anti-Catholic “Know-Nothing“ political party. Construction stopped until 22 years later, when stone from a different quarry — with a slightly different shade of white — was used, resulting in a permanent and visible reminder of the religious intolerance Catholics have faced in U.S. history. George Washington was quite tolerant of Catholics and their religion, uncharacteristic for an Anglican churchwarden and Freemason in Virginia, where, during the colonial era, the celebration of Mass was illegal. Some accounts say that Washington ultimately became Catholic.
Christian Science Monitor
A planned Muslim community stirs opposition
By Simon Montlake & Henry Gass, June 29, 2026
Under a baking Texas sun, hundreds of Muslim worshippers park their cars in a gravel lot the size of a football field and make their way to a green-domed mosque. Most don’t glance over at the dozen or so people gathered outside an office on the East Plano Islamic Center’s grounds. These conservative activists are protesting a real estate project – a 400-acre planned community with more than 1,000 homes, a mosque, a faith-based K-12 school, and commercial spaces – being developed by the mosque in this suburb north of Dallas. Since its announcement more than two years ago, the project has been dogged by controversy. Republican state officials have launched investigations and lawsuits to halt construction of the development, originally named EPIC City and now rebranded as The Meadow. The departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development opened separate civil rights inquiries into possible violations of the Fair Housing Act.
The Christian Post
The truth: Over 30 countries maintain birthright citizenship
By CP Staff, July 3, 2026
According to global citizenship data, over 30 countries maintain birthright citizenship, with many concentrated in the Western Hemisphere. In Trump v. Barbara, the high court ruled 5-4 that Trump's executive order that restricted birthright citizenship violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The 10 most populous countries that recognize birthright citizenship, based on population estimates and international citizenship data, are the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Peru, Venezuela, Chad, Chile, and the United States.
Keep informed - 7/3/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Big Pulpit, EWTN, & the Loop
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: July 3, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
We Do Have a Good Bishop: Bishop Earl K. Fernandes of Columbus, Ohio – Dave Griffey
Salt Lake City Bishop Reduces Priests Celebrating T.L.M., Despite Mormon Conversions – Fr. Zed
41% Transgender Suicide Rate: The Shocking Truth Behind the Delusion – Jesse Romero
Can Virtue Change the Brain? What Neuroscience Reveals on Habit, Character, Faith – Magis Center
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — July 3, 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.
Thankful for abortion pill reversal: ‘We are grateful someone answered’ - By Kate Quiñones - In an open letter, 225 women who have been helped by the Abortion Pill Rescue Network (APRN) expressed their gratitude for being able to access abortion pill reversal.
Priest explains how to read the Bible without getting lost in the process - By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú - Father Valentín Aparicio advised those who want to read and understand sacred Scripture: Start with the Gospel of Luke.
Follow with the Acts of the Apostles. It helps one “gain a fairly clear and comprehensive idea of what the New Testament is.”
Nicaraguan dictatorship detains Bishop Abelardo Mata again - By Walter Sánchez Silva - “Currently, we only learn of 10% of the attacks committed against the Catholic Church because the rest go unreported due to the fear and caution priests and laypeople have about speaking out in the news media or on social media.”
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.
RUSSIA LAUNCHES RECORD STRIKE ON UKRAINE’S CAPITAL - Russia fired 74 missiles and nearly 500 drones at Kyiv and surrounding areas overnight into July 2, killing at least 20 people and injuring dozens more — including children and emergency workers — in what the city’s mayor called one of the most massive strikes on the capital since the war began.
US SOCCER WINS FIRST WORLD CUP KNOCKOUT MATCH SINCE 2002 - The U.S. Men’s National Team beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-0 in a tense World Cup knockout round match played in Santa Clara, California — the team’s first knockout-stage victory in 24 years — despite finishing the game with only 10 players after star striker Folarin Balogun was issued a controversial red card in the 64th minute.
ATLANTA BISHOPS BACK DOMINICAN SISTERS OVER NY GENDER IDENTITY LAW - Archbishop Gregory Hartmayer and Atlanta’s auxiliary bishops issued a statement of solidarity with the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, who are suing the State of New York over a law requiring long-term care facilities to use preferred pronouns and assign patient rooms based on gender identity — with fines, loss of their nursing home license, and potential imprisonment threatened for non-compliance.
July 3, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Feast of Saint Thomas, Apostle
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Catholic365
Satan’s temptations: He knows our weaknesses
By Eileen Renders, July 3, 2024
How can we know when it is Satan who is whispering in our ear? Often, it sounds so innocent or even thoughtful. He might say, “You deserve to be commended” when we are feeling down. Regardless, whether it is baking, fixing a car, or performing well in an intellectual study. If our weakness is pride, the Evil One knows how to attack and sound like it is coming from a place of understanding. Our weakness may be pride, vanity, a bit of revenge, or any one of the deadly sins. Sometimes, we may think that what we are hearing from Satan is actually coming from our inner thoughts of believing we deserve a bit more recognition for our efforts. He is cunning! Understanding our weaknesses enables us to be on guard, check them, and sincerely pray to God to help us remove them. As we become better at detecting Satan’s evil attempts to destroy our souls in the presence of God, we work to come closer to God.
Catholic Culture
Is the New Mexico land really a religious-liberty issue?
By Phil Lawler, June 22, 2026
In a legal battle between the Trump administration and the Las Cruces diocese, the diocese's religious-liberty arguments would be much more persuasive if they were not couched in blatantly political rhetoric. The Trump administration wants to seize land by eminent domain to complete a section of the border wall in the New Mexico desert, land which is part of the Mount Cristo Rey pilgrimage site. The diocese argues that the border wall would be an “affront to religious liberty.” If the diocese could demonstrate that the wall would inhibit the practice of the Catholic faith, the religious-freedom argument would deserve serious consideration. Instead, the diocese contends that the wall itself is “offensive to Catholic values and teachings,” insofar as it is “a physical symbol of the government’s dehumanizing treatment of migrants writ large.” The purpose of the wall would be precisely to stop illegal entry into the United States. The presence of a pilgrimage site nearby is irrelevant.
The Catholic Gentleman
Know oneself by the study of the ‘temperaments’
By John Heinen, June 26, 2026
Jesus knew better than to try to lead and guide each soul in exactly the same way. To one, our Lord seems tender and forgiving, to another fierce and exact, and to another patient but firm. Fathers, likewise, guide their families based on knowing and loving each member as they are. He must know how they react and respond so as to be able to prudently bring them to truth and ultimately to heaven. And, if he is truly wise, he knows that knowing others means you also know yourself. “One of the most reliable means of learning to know oneself is the study of the temperaments,” says Fr. Conrad Hock, author of Know Thyself. “For if a man is fully cognizant of his temperament, he can learn easily to direct and control himself. If he is able to discern the temperament of others, he can better understand and help them.” The temperaments are an ancient and refined description of how we tend to respond based on whether we are choleric (resolute, determined), melancholic (grave, reflective), sanguine (spontaneous, outgoing), or phlegmatic (steady, calm). We all have a mix of temperaments, but everyone tends to have some that are more pronounced and dominant.
Bishop Barron
The play between knowing and believing
By Bishop Robert Barron, July 3, 2026
Friends, today’s Gospel recounts Thomas’s doubt about the resurrection. Indeed, Catholicism has a rich tradition of questioning, seeking understanding. Aquinas, another great St. Thomas, spent much of his life asking and answering hard questions about the faith. Do you remember Hamlet’s great line, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”? If we stubbornly said—even in the area of science—that we will accept only what we can clearly see and touch and control, we wouldn’t know much about reality. There is, in most areas of life, a play between knowing and believing. It is not unique to the religious sphere of life. Blaise Pascal summed it up: “The heart has its reasons that reason knows not.” It is not that we who have not seen and have believed are settling for a poor substitute for vision. No, we are being described as blessed, more blessed than Thomas. God is doing all sorts of things that we cannot see, measure, control, or fully understand. But it is an informed faith that allows one to fall in love with such a God.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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