Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
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Agenzia Fides
Devastation in Nepal: ‘Worst disaster in the country’s history’
By Fides News Agency, August 27, 2026
“It was terrible. A flood coming down from the mountains and rushing violently downstream swept everything away: people, homes, bridges and infrastructure. Villages, markets and roads have been wiped out. It is a deep wound for the nation,” said Father Silas Bogati, Apostolic Administrator of the Vicariate of Nepal, following the floods that struck the Nepal-Tibet (China) border area on August 26. The devastating floods were triggered by a “glacial collapse,” when ice and rocks in the Himalayas collapsed. The debris temporarily blocked the Bhote Koshi River, forming a natural dam that later burst and unleashed a violent surge of mud, water, and debris downstream. The torrent swept through Nepal’s Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts and reached areas farther downstream, including Chitwan. “There are around 25 Catholic families in the disaster area. They appear to be safe, but we are very concerned about them.”
Related: Update by Nepal % China warn of second flood as Church launches relief efforts - By EWTN News Staff, August 28, 2026
Zeale News
Ambassador to the Vatican meets with Trump, Vance, Rubio
By McKenna Snow, August 27, 2026
U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch met with President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio this week in Washington, D.C., according to an Aug. 27 statement from the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. They met “to discuss how we can partner with the Holy See to promote global peace and religious freedom,” the embassy said in the statement. “We had an encouraging dialogue on President Trump’s bold leadership and commitment to advancing religious freedom, his defense of human life, artificial intelligence, and the pursuit of peace around the world,” Burch added. "The Pope was extraordinarily gracious and welcoming to my family. This evening served as a reminder of the closeness of our two nations and the importance of continued cooperation in addressing the many challenges facing our world.”
OSV News
Europe’s richest man’s millions rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral
By OSV News, August 27, 2026
Ahead of the upcoming papal trip to France, Pope Leo XIV met with Bernard Arnault, the head of Louis Vuitton and Europe’s richest man, who contributed 200 million euros (over $233 million) toward the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Arnault is the chairman and CEO of the Paris-based luxury goods conglomerate LVMH. The private papal audience with the head of the fashion and luxury goods giant LVMH took place on the same day that Pope Leo was named one of the world’s best-dressed people by Vanity Fair, the second such accolade for the American-born pope, who made Vogue magazine’s list of the “55 Best Dressed People of 2025.” The French luxury conglomerate LVMH, which Arnault, 77, heads, was formed 40 years ago, a merger of Louis Vuitton and Moët Hennessy. Today, the group includes the fashion and perfume brands Christian Dior, Fendi, and Guerlain, as well as the champagne brand Dom Pérignon and Tiffany & Co.
Aleteia
67% of Catholics want to return to Confession
By Theresa Civantos Barber, August 27, 2026
A new study found that nearly 70% of Catholics who have not gone to Confession in the past year want to go. What's holding them back? As Catholics, the Church calls us to receive the Sacrament of Confession at least once a year, and more if we need. Regular spiritual habits like going to Confession and Mass have long been associated with positive mental and physical health — and of course spiritual health! Catholics who go to Mass at least monthly score above national benchmarks on human flourishing. What’s holding them back is personal, not practical. Seventy percent of lapsed Catholics and 81% of those whose last Confession experience was in childhood say they can ask God for forgiveness directly in prayer rather than going to Confession. Other things that discourage participation? Feelings of embarrassment and uncertainty about the process. What draws people back to the Sacrament is the desire to experience God’s forgiveness and mercy. Nearly 8 in 10 Catholics (79%) say this is a top reason they would return to Confession.
National Catholic Register
French Archbishop buries prominent Freemason, defies ruling
By Solène Tadié, August 27, 2026
The Catholic funeral of French Sen. François Patriat, celebrated Aug. 25 in the Diocese of Dijon, has prompted strong reactions among French Catholics after questions were raised about the deceased’s decades-long, publicly known membership in Freemasonry — an institution the Catholic Church has formally judged incompatible with the faith since 1738. The French magazine Challenges described Patriat as far back as 2018 as “a self-avowed Freemason,” a public identity he did not conceal over a long career in the Socialist Party and later in Macron’s movement. He was also a supporter of France’s new “end of life” law legalizing euthanasia and assisted suicide. Others denounced President Macron for delivering a personal eulogy inside the church weeks after adopting the end-of-life bill, one of his core campaign promises. Macron had also enshrined abortion as a constitutional right in March 2024.
EWTN News
Catholic colleges map AI policies guided by Magnifica Humanitas
By Madalaine Elhabbal, August 27, 2026
Newman Guide institutions are shaping their classroom approach to rapidly evolving artificial intelligence through Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, emphasizing human dignity and guarding against the technology’s potential to weaken authentic learning. Five Catholic colleges and universities told EWTN News they are crafting classroom AI policies in light of the pope’s encyclical, as the University of Chicago moves — as first reported by the student newspaper The Chicago Maroon — to make social sciences classes fully analog this fall. “Discussions on the pedagogical response to AI have been ongoing for some time now, with new impetus as we absorb Pope Leoʼs encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas,” Williams said. “There’s a significant contingent among the faculty who prefer the all-analog approach, at least in our core curriculum classes, and are teaching accordingly as a matter of individual choice.”
The Pillar
Government threatens to remove head of Armenian Church
By Edgar Beltrán, August 26, 2026
The Armenian Prime Minister announced Aug. 24 an investigation into what it calls a “systemic crisis” of the Armenian Apostolic Church, after announcing a government-led reform of the country’s majority Church, including a change in its leadership. The move comes less than a month after the trial against Karekin II, the head of the Armenian Church, who faces charges of disobeying a court order after an Armenian tribunal ordered Karekin to reinstate a bishop he had removed. As part of the reform program, the government signaled it would move to install an “interim Catholicos” at the head of the Church. The announcement marks a further escalation in the standoff between the Church and government, which some fear could lead to an effective nationalization of the Oriental Orthodox Church. Armenia, roughly the size of Maryland, has a population of about three million, and borders Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran — 95% of the population belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church and 0.6% belong to the Catholic Church.
National Catholic Register
New FDA nominee has a ‘Pro-Life Heart,’ says top advocate for life
By Kate Quiñones/EWTN News, August 27, 2026
Marjorie Dannenfelser, head of a major pro-life advocacy group, said President Donald Trump’s new nominee for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, Dr. Heidi Overton, is “the right person for the job.” “Iʼm very impressed with her credentials and her pro-life heart,” Dannenfelser said in an Aug. 26 interview with EWTN Pro-Life Weekly anchor Abigail Galván. “She, behind the scenes, was working very hard to make sure that the FDA was moving in the right direction on a new study to base further action on.” The position became vacant after Dr. Marty Makary was fired and is currently filled by acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas, whom Dannenfelser also described as “a very strong pro-life person.” “We’ve been extremely disappointed from the beginning of the administration with the direction of the FDA and the inaction from the Department of Justice [including] undermining of the pro-life priorities at the Department of Justice.”
Keep informed - 8/28/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Big Pulpit, EWTN, & the Loop
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: August 28, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
Pope Leo Personally Ordered Vatican to Stop Using Rupnik Images – Michael Haynes at Cath Her
Pope Leo XIV: Family is the Best Defense Against Drug Addiction – Rome Reports
Cardinal Sarah: Opposition to the T.L.M. Will Die Out with the ’68 Generation – Diane Montagna
If the Apostles Hadn’t Seen Christ Risen, They Wouldn’t Have Risked So Much – The Am Catholic
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — August 28, 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.
Latin Patriarchate: Emergency relief alone will not secure a future for Holy Land Christians - By Coastal Sanad - Christian presence in the Holy Land is going through one of the most critical moments in its 2,000-year history. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa calls for transition from emergency response to investment in education, work, and special projects, giving families practical reasons to remain.
Tennessee diocese remembers Dolly Parton as ‘one of our own’ - By Tessa Gervasini - Dolly Parton’s “life shows what can grow from faith, perseverance, imagination, and love for oneʼs neighbors — even from humble beginnings,” the Diocese of Knoxville reported.
Pope Leo XIV: A good family is the best way to prevent drug addiction - By Ishmael Adibuah - “Today, we bear witness to the pain of many broken families, whether due to drug use, violence, the criminal recruitment of a child, poverty, or the lack of opportunities that push people to the margins of society,” Leo explained.
The Loop
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.
MISSOURI SENATOR ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO FLOCK CAMERAS - Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo, announced plans to examine how the controversial surveillance company collects, stores, and uses data, citing a “woeful lack of safeguards in these systems.” The cameras have sparked a national debate over surveillance, privacy, and safety, amid reported vandalism and theft of the street-watching lenses.
ILLINOIS AGREES TO PAUSE ENFORCEMENT OF ASSISTED SUICIDE MANDATE AGAINST CATHOLICS, RELIGIOUS OBJECTORS - The Democrat-led state agreed as part of a lawsuit to temporarily not force Catholics, including Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki and four Catholic physicians, in addition to other religious objectors, to adhere to the state’s new assisted suicide law.
GALLUP: AMERICANS FEAR POTENTIAL ELECTION FRAUD AHEAD OF MIDTERMS - The recent Gallup survey reported that a majority of voters are worried about how possible fraud may impact November’s midterms, ranging from deceptive and illegal moves made by politicians to noncitizens casting ballots unlawfully.
August 28, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Memorial of Saint Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Catholic365
Flying blind
By Lisa Liveze, August 27, 2024
How annoying. I counted 26 pesky flies simultaneously making themselves at home on the snout of the cow closest to us. Our farmer friend matter-of-factly shrugged his shoulders and said, "There's nothin' they can do about it." They tolerate nonstop annoyances without getting upset. Watching the flies made irritation well up in me and gave a whole new twist to the phrase “flying blind.” These cows turn a blind eye to the imperfections of their reality — and steadily live out their “cow” calling. How easy it can be to focus on the minor annoyances that invade our lives, tainting our misguided goals of ease, comfort, and perfection. Instead of counting the flies, we can name one by one our blessings and live each day “flying blind.” If we were careful to offer all these petty annoyances to God and accept them as being ordered by His providence, we would soon be in a position to support the greatest misfortunes that can happen to us (St. Claude de la Colombière (1641-1682).
Catholic World Report
Reject the month & myth of ‘trangendered Saints’
By Mary Rice Hasson, Andrea Picciotti-Bayer, August 27, 2026
“Transgender” identification is a politicized phenomenon, not something the Church has ever encountered, much less celebrated, in the lives of men and women it has raised to the altars. It’s worth noting that there were fewer Pride flags and celebrations this June than in years past. But Catholics never needed the secular calendar’s permission to know that June actually belongs to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion to Christ’s own love that predates any corporate rainbow campaign. The National Catholic Reporter, an outlet claiming a Catholic identity, is promoting “Transgender History Month” along with a roster of supposed “trans saints.” The Church, however, actually asks Catholics to honor the Immaculate Heart of Mary in August. That contrast is the whole story. Attempting to stitch Catholic saints into the ideological fabric of an invented celebration misleads Catholics, especially the young and poorly catechized, about the lives of those saints and about what we celebrate as Catholics.
Catholic Exchange
Hope that Christ will bring my kids back to the Faith
By Maggie Green, November 11, 2025
We could feel tremors before the break, the shift in how she spoke, in how she treated others. We could see her heart hardening toward God, toward the Church, toward us. Some would say that’s adolescence, but it always felt like more. Praying, engaging, hugging, creating special time—we did all of that, and it kept our relationships alive, like blowing on the embers. We weren’t saints about it; we were parents. We’d be too hard, too soft, too talky, too quiet, too prayerful, and yet not witnessing enough. It felt like trying to maintain a sandcastle against the high tide of the world. It felt like the world would win, and children would leave. As parents, it felt like the waves were crashing over. There’s no small amount of soul-searching that goes on when someone you love leaves the Faith. Being a friend of Christ means He is with you in the midst of the storm. He is with you in every scourge, in every ache, in every moment of agony, in all the pains of life. He died for us; He died for them; He is seeking them even now.
Bishop Barron
Keep that sense of the big picture
By Bishop Robert Barron, August 28, 2026
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus recognizes the prudence of the five wise virgins. In the Middle Ages, prudence was called “the queen of the virtues” because it enabled one to do the right thing in a particular situation. Prudence is a feel for the moral situation, something like the feel that a quarterback has for the playing field or a politician has for the voters in his district. Wisdom is, like prudence, a kind of vision, but it is, unlike prudence, a sense of the big picture. It is the capacity to survey reality from God's vantage point, appreciating the grandest perspective. Without wisdom, even the most prudent judgment will be erroneous, shortsighted, and inadequate. The combination, therefore, of prudence and wisdom is especially powerful. Someone who is both wise and prudent will have both a sense of the big picture and a feel for the particular situation.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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