Catholic Nutshell News: Friday 8/29/25
Topics include: Leo XIV credited for unity in Syro-Malabar Church; Pope Francis' tribunal reforms; Canada on charitable pro-life organizations status; & Catholic men guarding parishes
Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
Today's sources: National Catholic Register, Catholic News Agency, Word on Fire, CatholicVote, Agenzia Fides, & Missio Dei. (Catholic Nutshell is a FREE subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
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Catholic News Agency
Pope Leo XIV credited for unity in the Syro-Malabar Church
By Nicolás de Cárdenas, August 28, 2025
The Holy See Press Office has published a series of decisions by Pope Leo XIV to bring about unity in the Syro-Malabar Church of India, which has been at serious risk of schism in recent years due to liturgical disputes. The Syro-Malabar Church is one of the 23 Eastern Churches in full communion with the bishop of Rome and follows the Chaldean liturgical tradition. Since 1999, the Church has undergone a prolonged period of division due to liturgical reforms that were later confirmed by the Synod of the Syro-Malabar Church in 2021. In July, Pope Leo XIV terminated the 2023 appointment of Archbishop Cyril Vasil as papal delegate to the Syro-Malabar Church. The Vatican reported on August 28 that it had accepted resignations, made several episcopal appointments, and established several ecclesiastical provinces within the Syro-Malabar Church.
The Pillar
Have Pope Francis' tribunal reforms worked?
By JD Flynn, August 28, 2025
The Church is still unpacking the Francis papacy, knowing what it will mean for the Church in decades or centuries to come. Some elements of the late pontiff’s legacy will be shaped by how Francis’ successor, Pope Leo XIV, chooses to engage with the teaching and governing decisions of Pope Francis. We must wait on Leo’s take on the liturgical restrictions of Traditionis custodes and the issues raised in Amoris laetitia. However, another key aspect of Francis’ leadership — 10 years old this month — has not been addressed: Mitis iudex dominus Iesus, a reform of the process for adjudicating marriage nullity petitions in ecclesiastical tribunals worldwide. Ten years after those changes were initiated, canon lawyers mostly say they’ve been for the good. While some ongoing legal criticisms remain about the structures created by Francis, most U.S. tribunal personnel say that the Francis changes have led to both a faster and more just tribunal process.
CatholicVote
Canada wants to cancel charitable status to pro-life organizations
By McKenna Snow, August 28, 2025
The Standing Committee on Finance has recommended to the Canadian government that pro-life organizations lose charitable status, according to Steinbach Online. Don Plett, a former senator from Steinbach who retired in May, provided an analysis to the outlet about the committee’s recommendation that the government “no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.” In another suggestion that could impact Canadian churches, the committee also recommended that the government “amend the Income Tax Act to define a charity which would remove the privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose,” according to Steinbach Online. Plett said, so far, the government has neither expressed interest in pursuing nor rejecting the recommendations, among 462 recommendations that the committee has made for the 2024/2025 budget. “This is a long, long way from becoming law,” Plett commented. “However, having said that, this is the way things do become law.”
National Catholic Register
Doorkeepers & defenders: Catholic men step up to guard parishes
By Matthew McDonald & Jonah McKeown, August 28, 2025
In the aftermath of a mass shooting of schoolchildren during a Mass at a parish church in Minneapolis on Wednesday, a group in Arizona training Catholic men to provide security for their parishes for about five years voiced caution. “Unfortunately, today is an example of why it’s needed,” said Brian Eaton, the founder of Porters of St. Joseph, an apostolate of volunteer men who, according to its website, seek “to imitate St. Joseph as the Protector of the Holy Church, Pillar of Families, and Terror of Demons.” He said, “We don’t live in the world that I grew up in. That world has gone away. The Church is always changing and adapting to the challenges, spiritually and physically, in any moment in time.” Catholic schools across the country routinely run lockdown drills, and some have security officers on hand. But that isn’t the case at most Catholic churches during Mass and other church events.
Aleteia
Leo XIV: Christian politicians must operate from their faith
By I.Media, August 29, 2025
“The openly Christian commitment of a public official is not easy, particularly in certain Western societies where Christ and his Church are marginalized, often ignored, sometimes ridiculed,” said Leo XIV as he welcomed some 40 elected officials from Val-de-Marne, France, to the Vatican on August 28, 2025. In a blunt speech to these mayors and city councilors of various political stripes — believers and non-believers alike — the Pope lamented a Western world that ridicules the Church and called on Christians to oppose policies that go against their conscience. The Pontiff assured that there was no “separation in the personality of a public figure: there is not the politician on one side and the Christian on the other. But there is the politician who, under the gaze of God and his conscience, lives his commitments and responsibilities in a Christian manner.”
Agenzia Fides
Korea’s nationwide pro-life movement to ‘raise a prophetic cry’
By Agenzia Fides, August 22, 2025
Bishop Moon Chang-woo, Bishop of Jeju, in his capacity as President of the Committee for Family and Life within the Korean Bishops' Conference, intends to relaunch the "Pro-Life Movement" on a large scale in all dioceses of the country, to "reawaken the sense of the mission and vocation to protect life from its beginning to its natural end" and "raise a prophetic cry," while returning the critical issue of the inalienable respect for human life to public debate and become the subject of political action. Conceived at the national level, the "Pro-Life Movement" aims to include, network, and coordinate the various existing initiatives in the regions, including, among others, the "Project for Unborn Life," created to help mothers in need not have abortions by providing them with Catholic health and care facilities.
CRUX
Profile of the school shooter methodically coming together
By Claudia Lauer/AP, August 28, 2025
Authorities are working to learn the motive of the shooter who fired into a Minneapolis Catholic school’s church during Wednesday’s Mass, killing two children and injuring 17 worshippers. Officials identified the shooter as Robin Westman, 23, and said Westman was found dead in the parking lot from what they believe was a self-inflicted gunshot. The FBI is investigating this shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics, officials said. Westman legally purchased the weapons, had no known criminal history and acted alone, the chief said. Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey condemned anyone who would use the shooting to villainize the transgender community. Police said they were aware of time-released video and writings that may have come from the shooter.
Our Sunday Visitor
Nigerian bandits have markedly increased killings and attacks
By Katie Yoder, August 21, 2025
Gunmen referred to as bandits attacked a mosque in Nigeria’s Unguwan Mantau, Malumfashi Constituency during morning prayers on 19 August, leaving 50 people dead and abducting 60 others. Aminu Ibrahim, a lawmaker representing Malumfashi Constituency in Nigeria’s Katsina State House of Assembly, confirmed the next day that 30 worshippers were shot dead and another 20 burned alive during the attack. Christians attending a morning service nearby fled as the bandits then attacked their church. “Our people cannot live like this,” Ibrahim said during a plenary session of the House of Assembly. Abubakar Sadiq Aliyu, the state police spokesperson, told reporters that the attackers burned people in their homes. “They shot at people sporadically and burned 20 of their homes, bringing the total to around 50. By the time police arrived, the bandits had already burned down homes in other villages and kidnapped dozens of people.”
Big Pulpit, CNA & ChurchPOP for 8/29/25
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: August 29, 2025
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
What Divorce Did to My Childhood – Them Before Us
The Predominant Cause of the Trans Epidemic: Mothers with Mental Illness – Non Veni Pacem
Pope Leo XIV Publishes His First Book – The Catholic Herald
Ecumenical Patriarch: Only Another Ecumenical Council Can Fix The Date Of Easter – CWN
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — August 29, 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.
Pope Leo XIV accepts Medal of St. Augustine: ‘It’s an honor held dearly’ - Aug 29, 2025 - By Diego López Marina - Pope Leo XIV accepted the highest honor of the Augustinian order, the Medal of St. Augustine.
Ancient cross discovered in Abu Dhabi points to deep Christian roots in region - Aug 28, 2025 - By Madalaine Elhabbal - United Arab Emirates announced a new archaeological discovery: a 30-centimeter (11.8-inch) plaster cross unearthed in an ancient monastery on Sir Bani Yas Island about 106 miles southwest of Abu Dhabi.
School district backs off violating students’ free speech, religious freedom rights - Aug 28, 2025 - By Amira Abuzeid - “We are pleased that the school district changed course and will allow Sabrina to express her deeply held beliefs in her design,” said Keisha Russell, senior counsel for First Liberty Institute.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - August 29, 2025
Franciscan Univ. Claps Back at Jen Psaki’s Anti-Prayer Rhetoric After Tragic Catholic School Shooting - "Evil wants us to stop praying and to despair. We will not. We cling to Christ, who has conquered death."
'With God on My Side': 8th-Grader Says Prayer Led Him to Protect Classmates in School Shooting - “At that moment, all I could think about was trying to keep everyone as safe as possible."
The Saint Who Feels Like a Friend: How Pier Giorgio Frassati's Radiant Joy Changed My View of Holiness - “You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be so? As long as Faith gives me strength, I will always be joyful!”
Nutshell reflections for 8/29/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection: AUDIO - August 29, 2025
Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist
Aleteia
Motivation is not a mysterious force, but human nature
By Daniel Esparza, August 29, 2025
What keeps us truly motivated? For Harvard researcher Teresa Amabile, the answer isn’t found in prizes, perks, or external rewards. Her decades of work on creativity and engagement highlight something far more interior: intrinsic motivation — the joy and meaning found in the work itself. Amabile discovered what she calls the progress principle: the single most powerful motivator is not applause or achievement at the finish line, but the sense of forward movement, even in the smallest steps. This principle resonates deeply with the Christian vision of vocation. The Catechism teaches that “work is for man, not man for work” (CCC 2428). It also notes that work is not a punishment or a curse. Instead, as humans we engaged in work even before Original Son, as it is one way that we are like the Creator, who engaged in the "work" of creation.
Crisis Magazine
‘The world … will most certainly starve for want of wonder’
By Regis Martin, August 27, 2025
Increasingly, it seems, we live in an age where everything has become as flat as a map. Nobody is looking up at the stars, either because they are indifferent to them or, owing to light pollution, they can’t see them. The modern world has a way of doing that to people. Almost as if, to recall Nietzsche’s prediction, someone had taken a sponge and wiped clean away the entire horizon. Or, as Marx would have it, everything solid melts into thin air. No sense of awe or mystery can survive such a sweeping reductionism. Chesterton was spot-on when he said about the world that while it will not starve for want of wonders, it will most certainly starve for want of wonder. It is, alas, an impoverishment in which we increasingly find ourselves. We have lost all sense of the hieratic, the sacred, what a wise old philosopher friend was wont to call “the poetry of the transcendent.”
Word on Fire
Trapped in the coils of man’s ancient enemy
By Fr. Ryan G. Duns, SJ, August 28, 2025
Whether or not one is a fan of horror films, many readers are likely familiar with images and phrases taken from the 1973 film The Exorcist. Regan MacNeil’s head is spinning 180 degrees. Exorcists sprinkling holy water and intoning, “The power of Christ compels you!” Projectile pea soup vomit striking a priest squarely in the face. Such scenes have infiltrated—or possessed—the popular imagination. Many of us watched The Exorcist or read William Peter Blatty’s novel in search of an entertaining thrill. In this piece, I would like to propose that beneath the film’s special effects, we can find a theological insight—with the help of Jesuit William Lynch—that can serve as a light and a source of hope in trying times.
Missio Dei
The world would rather do anything than consider its mortality
By Judson Carroll, August 28, 2025
How often do you contemplate your approaching death? As Catholics, I suppose that most of the rest of humanity thinks us rather odd in our seeming obsession with death. Other denominations do not have ashes applied to their foreheads on Ash Wednesday with the admonition from the priest, “Remember your death oh man.” No, the rest of the world would rather do most anything than consider their mortality. Any entertainment or even difficult work is preferred to thinking of one's own death. Yet, we each die. We are born knowing that we will die. In truth, we begin to die the moment we are born, every moment bringing us closer to the end. Contrary to the opinion of the world, Catholics are not morbid (usually). We are actually quite the opposite. We recognize that our lives on earth are of but brief duration, while the soul lives forever.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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