Catholic Nutshell News: Friday 8/7/26
Catholics should know: Bill poses threat to women’s sports; Catholic memorial for those lost to suicide; Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools; & ‘Christianity is only just beginning’
Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
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Zeale News
College sports bill poses threat to women’s sports
By Zeale News, August 7, 2026
CatholicVote is warning senators that it will score a vote for the current version of the Protect College Sports Act against them, arguing that the legislation could endanger state protections for women’s and girls’ sports. In an Aug. 6 letter to the U.S. Senate obtained by Zeale News, CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky urged lawmakers to reject S. 4668 unless it is amended to explicitly preserve state laws maintaining female athletic teams for true females. “For some inexplicable reason, the sponsors of this bill refuse to listen to reason, instead seeking to garner Democrat support for their bill by throwing women under the (sport) bus,” McClusky told Zeale News. CatholicVote’s objection centers on Section 121 of the revised legislation, which would preempt conflicting state laws and certain state rules governing college, conference, and athletic-association policies on name, image, and likeness compensation, transfers, and athlete eligibility.
OSV News
Catholic memorial for those lost to suicide
By Simone Orendain, August 7, 2026
A Chicago-area Catholic cemetery this summer unveiled a garden where those who lost loved ones to suicide can remember them in prayer. The Archdiocese of Chicago notes that it is the first U.S. Catholic archdiocese to create such a memorial in a Catholic cemetery. A large bronze angel and a stainless steel spire-like piece bearing eight life-sized doves adorn the grounds near the main entrance of Queen of Heaven Cemetery in the Chicago suburb of Hillside, 16 miles west of downtown. The archdiocese’s vicar general, Auxiliary Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, led the project with retired Father Charles Rubey, who has run a suicide bereavement program for Catholic Charities since 1979. “This is a place for people to come and to just spend time with the Lord, to be with God in prayer, to feel his love, to feel God’s peace,” said Bishop Sullivan, who blessed the sculptures and led the dedication on June 26. “And again, this for the family members of those who died.”
Aleteia
Why get married in the Church?
By Theresa Civantos Barber, August 4, 2026
Waiting for marriage is a conversational bombshell in today's world. “No … We’re Catholic,” I said to a Catholic neighbor who asked where my husband and I lived before we got married. “So we didn’t live together.” Then she asked, “So you mean you didn’t move in with your husband until he proposed?” “No, not when he proposed,” I explained. “Until we were married. Until after the wedding.” She was silent for a moment, thinking about this shocking information. “Huh.” I told her that when you get married in the Church, it changes things. You know how every marriage goes through hard times? Well, when you get married in the Church, you get this grace from God that really helps you get through the hard times. “I’ll talk to my husband about it,” she said thoughtfully. There’s a Civil Marriage Initiative for Spanish-speaking couples to inspire Hispanic and Latino Catholics in civil unions, like my neighbors, to pursue sacramental marriage.
Catholic Exchange
Britain’s new Prime Minister only ‘thinks’ he’s a Catholic
By Steven Tucker, August 7, 2026
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is an adherent of something called CST. CST may sound like some form of horrific neurological disease but, as contracted by Burnham, it is actually something far more virulent and debilitating: Catholic Social Teaching. CST does have a certain amount of genuine validity. Yet in Burnham’s own terms, CST is the far-left Liberation Theology of Latin America: that is, socialism in disguise. Andy Burnham’s idea of Catholicism appears to be very closely formed by his beloved Liverpool roots, where a left-wing form of CST is preached from pulpits as a matter of course. In the abstract, generic sense, many of the CST concepts sound admirable, unobjectionable, and compatible with Catholicism. Until you hear this. In the UK, the “true” Satan is a conservative, free-market politician like the Left’s 1980s U.K. arch-nemesis Margaret Thatcher. Despite being a “Catholic,” Andy Burnham has a long record of pro-queer activism. “Andy Burnham: I’m a gay rights, feminist, football-loving Catholic kind of guy.”
EWTN News
Federal court reviews Oklahoma’s ban for religious charter schools
By Tyler Arnold, August 7, 2026
A federal court heard oral arguments on Aug. 5 about whether an Oklahoma law banning religious charter schools violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion. Oklahoma established a charter school system in 1999 that provides public funds for privately run K–12 schools, which parents can send their children to instead of a public school operated by a school district. The law only allows “nonsectarian” applicants, which prevents any participation from schools that have a religious identity. In 2023, the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board (SCSB) approved an application from a proposed Catholic charter school — St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School — which led to a legal challenge from Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who opposed religious charter schools. The Oklahoma Supreme Court sided against the school, finding that charter schools are public schools and that public schools must be secular.
The Pillar
Apostolic administrator appointed during cardinal’s investigation
By Edgar Beltrán, August 6, 2026
The Archdiocese of Rabat, Morocco, announced Aug. 2 the temporary appointment of Msgr. Mario León Dorado, OMI, as apostolic administrator while the Holy See investigates allegations of sexual misconduct against Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero, SDB. The move follows allegations from five women about López Romero’s conduct during his tenure in the archdiocese, including accusations that three women experienced inappropriate behavior from the cardinal during the sacrament of penance. López Romero, who has been archbishop of Rabat since 2017 and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2019, announced July 6 that he would temporarily step down from his post while the investigation proceeds. He has denied committing “any acts of sexual aggression, violence or harassment.” The complaints against López Romero were filed two months ago in the Moroccan nunciature by a retired diocesan collaborator and another woman offering written testimony, AFP reported.
National Catholic Register
Amid US-Cuba tensions, a candidate for sainthood offers hope
By Francis X. Rocca & Gigi Duncan, August 6, 2026
The United States and Cuba, at odds for more than six decades, are once again in a period of heightened confrontation. At first glance, Cuba’s economic crisis and deteriorating relations with the United States seem far removed from the world of a 19th-century priest and philosophy professor. Yet admirers of Venerable Félix Varela, a Cuban-born candidate for Catholic sainthood, say he embodied the virtues needed today for Cuba’s pursuit of freedom and reconciliation with the U.S. Varela’s biography bridges the two countries. Born in Havana in 1788, he was orphaned as a child before moving to St. Augustine, Florida, then Spanish colonial territory, to live with his grandfather, a military officer. He later returned to Cuba to study for the priesthood and became a respected philosophy professor. Varela was “the first man who taught us to think,” said 19th-century Cuban intellectual José de la Luz y Caballero, in words that have become Father Varela’s defining epithet.
Agenzia Fides
‘Christianity is only just beginning,’ said Leo XIV
By Marie-Lucile Kubacki, July 10, 2026
"Christianity is only just beginning," said Pope Leo, echoing the words of the Russian Orthodox priest Alexander Men, who was murdered in 1990. The early days of Christianity have consistently served as a point of reference whenever the Church has entered periods of profound reflection. This was especially true during the Second Vatican Council, the Council of ‘ressourcement’, the ‘return to the sources’, when bishops and theologians turned to the ancient sources — Scripture, the ancient liturgy and the Fathers of the Church in order to discern the most faithful path for the Church in the contemporary world. As an heir to that history, Leo XIV, who has launched a new cycle of catecheses on the II Vatican, also turns his gaze to the mission as described in the Acts of the Apostles, as if it were a book of the origins: that of a Church enlivened by the Holy Spirit, shaped by the ministry of Peter, marked by the martyrdom of Stephen, and forever "coming into being."
Keep informed - 8/7/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Big Pulpit, EWTN, & the Loop
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: August 7, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
Rupnik Priest Perversion “Art” Covered for Pope Leo’s Visit to Lourdes – Taylor R. Marshall, Ph.D.
Cardinal Sarah Makes the Case for Letting Traditionis Custodes Wither & Die – Diane Montagna
Satire: Anglicans Propose the “Catholic Ordinariate of King Henry VIII” – The Daily Anathema
Raphael’s Transfiguration of Christ – Gregory DiPippo at New Liturgical Movement
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — August 7, 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.
Beatification cause of Tanzania’s first president now at witness interrogation stage - By Nicholas Waigwa - DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — The beatification cause of Servant of God Julius Kambarage Nyerere, Tanzaniaʼs first president, has reached the stage of interrogating witnesses, a Tanzanian Catholic bishop involved in the process said, describing the phase as critical in establishing the late leaderʼs reputation for holiness and heroic virtue.
Peruvian researcher: Big mistake to think ‘the Catholic faith was imposed on the Incas’ - By Diego López Marina and Edy Rodríguez Morel - Peruvian researcher and author Rafael Aíta asserts that one of the most widespread beliefs about the evangelization of Peru is also one of the most mistaken: the belief that Catholicism was forcibly imposed upon the Incas.
French government shuts down Paris-area mosque over alleged support for terrorism - By Solène Tadié - The closure occurred in the context of growing political debates around the challenges posed by the expansion of Islam in the country. The order targeted the “Chanteloup” mosque in Aulnay-sous-Bois, a suburb northeast of the capital in the Seine-Saint-Denis department.
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.
JUDGE CONFIRMS HAITIAN TPS TERMINATION ORDER IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT - A federal judge has formally confirmed that her order blocking the Trump administration from ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for roughly 350,000 Haitians is no longer in effect.
POPE LEO CALLS KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS ‘PROPHETS OF HARMONY’ - Pope Leo XIV urged Knights of Columbus members to cultivate unity through honest dialogue and charitable service, warning that a divided age needs people who build bridges and reconcile opposing sides. Addressing the group’s 144th Supreme Convention, he praised its aid to preborn children and mothers, persecuted Christians, victims of war and human trafficking, and the poor.
SEN. BRITT JOINS FIGHT TO RESTORE ABORTION-PILL SAFEGUARDS - Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., joined 90 Republican members of Congress in backing Louisiana’s bid to restore in-person dispensing for mifepristone, arguing Biden-era mail-order rules violated federal law and put women at risk. The case centers on a woman who says an abusive former boyfriend obtained the drug by mail and coerced her into taking it.
August 7, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Catholic365
Ancient wisdom and modern science
By Michael A Lupo, August 7, 2024
For thousands of years, civilizations observed the skies with remarkable precision. Ancient cultures recorded eclipses, planetary movements, changing seasons, and… The ancient world spoke of shining beings, sky people, and powerful visitors connected to wisdom and the heavens. These stories raise questions about what early civilizations truly witnessed. Look deeper into the forgotten accounts of the ancient world. My book, The Science & The Seers, brings together a range of theoretical ideas that examine the relationship between solar activity, Earth’s history, and the patterns that appear across time. Rather than presenting a single viewpoint, the book draws from multiple researchers, historical references, and scientific interpretations to explore how recurring cycles may influence both planetary events and human development. It looks at the possibility that large-scale changes are not isolated incidents, but part of a repeating process that has shaped civilizations over thousands of years.
Excel
Jesus says without him we can do nothing
By J.D. Pearring, April 30, 2026
What do we do when we’re knocked down a peg, pushed down in the standings, and humbled? How do we handle humility? Jesus had an answer: Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:1-5 NIV). Jesus says, “Lean in.” We’re not the gardener, we’re not the vine, we’re not the fruit. We’re simply the branches. Notice Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” At first, I figured this was hyperbole, preacher talk. Sure, you can do some things without God. But Jesus says without him we can do nothing. It’s true, we can’t breathe without him, we can’t live without him, and all our so-called accomplishments amount to nothing without him. Humility? It is an attribute of God, a hidden attribute of God. It is hidden because God is humble. The Father is humble. The Son is humble. The Holy Spirit is humble.
National Catholic Register
Can you be excommunicated for a social media post?
By Solène Tadié, August 6, 2026
On social media, Catholics today can take a stand with a single click. A generation ago, expressing a public opinion required an official intermediary — whether a publisher, a journalist or a bishop — unless one had the courage to address the crowds directly. Canon law was written for that older, slower world. The 1983 Code, still the Church’s governing legal text, was drafted decades before the emergence of social media and has never been revised to account for it. However, the real-world implications of this legal silence are not purely theoretical. They became particularly relevant when the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) returned to what the Vatican regards as open schism, sparking online responses across the liturgical and ideological spectrums. “Any schismatic or heretical act committed through speech is a public statement one way or another,” said Father Cédric Burgun, dean of the Faculty of Canon Law at the Catholic Institute of Paris, “whether it is written in a newspaper, on a television set, or on the internet.”
Bishop Barron
Jesus entered into the darkness and tempest of human disorder
By Bishop Robert Barron, August 7, 2026
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” Even a cursory reading of the Gospels reveals that Jesus’s death is the center and goal of the narrative, that which animates and gives verve to the story. How can we make sense of this stubborn cruciformity of Christianity? We can do so only if we remember that God is love. In our pride, our rebellion, our cruelty, and above all our fear, we human beings had changed ourselves into a dysfunctional family. Designed to soar into the fullness of God, we had turned ourselves tragically inward, locking ourselves into the cramped and icy space of sin. And this divine Son, incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, entered into the darkness and the tempest of human disorder. He went to the poor, the hungry, the self-righteous, those drunk on power and those with no power—to everyone languishing in the iciness of the far country—and called them home.
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