Fridays, "Living that coconut kinda life."
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Crux
Hong Kong court upholds convictions of Cardinal Zen and others
By Kanis Leung, September 3, 2026
A Hong Kong court on Thursday dismissed appeals brought by 94-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, a retired bishop, and four others over their convictions for failing to register a now-defunct fund that aimed to help people arrested during anti-government protests. Zen, a vocal advocate for democracy in the city, was a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pay medical and legal fees for arrested protesters until it ceased operations in October 2021. The other defendants — singer Denise Ho, scholar Hui Po Keung, and former pro-democracy lawmakers Margaret Ng and Cyd Ho — also served as trustees. In 2022, the five were found guilty and fined 4,000 Hong Kong dollars ($512) each for breaching the Societies Ordinance, which requires local organizations to register or apply for an exemption within a month of their establishment. Their convictions were the first of their kind. After the hearing, Margaret Ng told reporters that the defendants would appeal to the city’s top court. “It has a great impact on Hong Kong’s civil society.”
Zeale News
Minnesota SC on archdiocese’s right in ‘transgender’ employee case
By Elise Winland, September 3, 2026
The Minnesota Supreme Court heard oral arguments Sept. 1 on whether a former Catholic school employee who identifies as “transgender” may revive discrimination claims challenging the Catholic school’s authority to require employees to follow Catholic teaching on biological sex. The case stems from the Academy of Holy Angels’ decision not to renew the contract of Reyzl Grace MoChridhe, a man hired as a media specialist and librarian at the Catholic high school in Richfield, Minnesota, for the 2021-2022 school year. MoChridhe told the school’s principal that he intended to “transition” and return the following year presenting as a woman. According to court documents, MoChridhe told the principal he could not abide by the “Guiding Principles for Catholic Schools and Religious Education Concerning Human Sexuality and Sexual Identity,” and the school subsequently declined to renew his contract and hired a replacement.
OSV News
Massachusetts priest is urging prayers for a man who attacked him
By Gina Christian, September 3, 2026
Father Christopher Peschel, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in New Bedford, Massachusetts, sustained minor injuries Aug. 31 as he tried to prevent 59-year-old Jose Nascimento from stealing the parish’s monstrance. According to a Sept. 2 press release from the New Bedford Police Department, Nascimento “had entered the church and began knocking over items on the altar.” The priest was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford for evaluation and later released. “Pray for that man!” said Father Peschel in a Facebook message. “Pray for peace!” Following an initial hospital evaluation on Sept. 1, Nascimento was arraigned Sept. 2 but then removed from the courtroom after an outburst during the proceedings. He was ordered to remain in the hospital 20 more days for continued evaluation.
Aleteia
Pope speaks to bishops from Arab regions
By I.Media, September 3, 2026
“Do not be afraid of your smallness”: This was the encouragement offered by Pope Leo XIV to the bishops of the Conference of Latin Bishops in the Arab Regions (CELRA), who were received in audience at the Vatican on September 3, 2026. The Pope highlighted the “vast and complex reality” they face in the 17 countries under their jurisdiction, which are marked by “political, social, and religious tensions.” He urged them to continue their mission despite the small size of their communities and the hardships endured by the people under their care. Leo paid special tribute to the many Christians who have died as witnesses to the faith in these regions. He mentioned Sister Leonella Sgorbati, a Consolata missionary killed in Somalia in 2006 and beatified in 2018; the Missionaries of Charity killed in Yemen in 2016; as well as “the many priests, men and women religious, and lay faithful who have given their lives in Iraq, Syria, and other lands marked by violence.”
National Catholic Register
England’s historic cathedrals host pop concerts & silent discos
By Edward Pentin, September 3, 2026
“Candlelight concerts” are taking place every week this fall in many of Britain’s ancient, historic and once-Catholic cathedrals, but these are not lofty performances of sacred or even classical music. In Worcester Cathedral, founded in 680, rebuilt by St. Wulfstan, and the burial place of King John, who issued the Magna Carta, the late pop singer Whitney Houston’s greatest hits will be performed. On other nights, the once-hallowed nave will host cover bands playing songs by the Eagles, Coldplay and Tina Turner. Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, which survived Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries and is famous for the 14th-century “Washington Window,” which inspired the U.S. flag, will host Beatles and Queen tribute bands in October. Arguably more controversial than the candlelight concerts are “silent discos,” where partygoers wearing headphones and waving strobe lights as they dance to pop music from the 1980s and ’90s over the tombs of deceased noble citizens.
EWTN News
Caregivers must ‘allow patients to commit suicide in their facilities’
By Daniel Payne, September 3, 2026
A coalition of religious sisters has joined Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich in suing the state of Illinois to prevent enforcement of its assisted suicide law. The law, which was signed by Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker in December 2025, allows doctors in the state to prescribe lethal doses of medication to patients in order to help them end their own lives. Among other rules, patients must have a terminal illness in order to qualify for receiving help to kill themselves. The suit, filed in U.S. district court, argues that the sisters — who belong to the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Little Sisters of the Poor — will be forced to either “abandon their religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life or face significant fines and penalties” if they refuse to participate in the suicide regime. By Sept. 12, healthcare providers in Illinois, including the sisters through their care homes, will have to proactively discuss the “option” to commit suicide with those in their care. Caregivers will also “have to allow patients to commit suicide in their facilities.”
The Pillar
AI-written book no longer endorsed by Bishop O’Connell
By The Pillar, September 3, 2026
Amid a growing tide of debate about the use of generative AI in the Church, New Jersey Bishop David O’Connell rescinded last week what was believed to be the first endorsement by a prelate for a book composed almost entirely by AI. The book gained attention from Catholics after a publisher’s press release touted O’Connell’s endorsement of “Chatting with the Bible.” The publisher told The Pillar Friday that its press release was “erroneous” and caused by a miscommunication. The book, “Chatting with the Bible,” is published by Andy Fairchild Publishing, a publishing service which markets itself primarily to Christian authors. The text consists of dramatic retellings of 70 Biblical stories, with brief, single-paragraph reflections at the conclusion of each one. A representative of the publisher told The Pillar that the dramatic retellings, which constitute nearly the entire text of the book, were generated through ChatGPT by New Jersey clinical therapist Joe Springer
Zenit
Vatican’s silence a setback for the progressive German Church
By ZENIT Staff, September 1, 2026
The most revealing development in Germany’s long-running synodal experiment may be the meeting that will not take place. The first assembly of Germany’s proposed Synodal Conference, scheduled for Nov. 6 and 7 in Stuttgart, has been canceled while its statutes remain under consideration in Rome. No replacement date has been announced, and the Vatican has yet to authorize the body that its architects hope will become the permanent institutional successor to the German Synodal Way. For the German Church, the delay is more than an administrative inconvenience. It exposes the unresolved question that has shadowed the reform process: how far can a national Church redesign how decisions are made without altering the authority that Catholic doctrine and canon law assign to bishops? That question is now squarely on Pope Leo XIV’s desk. The proposed conference would look unusually powerful — 27 diocesan bishops, 27 Central Committee German Catholics, and 27 elected Catholics. All 81 members would have equal voting rights.
Keep informed - 9/4/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Big Pulpit, EWTN, & the Loop
Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic site: September 4, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is a news aggregator that gathers quality insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide.
St. Francis of Assisi – The Desire for Martyrdom – David Torkington at Catholic Stand Magazine
St. Teresa of Avila’s “Prayer to Redeem Lost Time” & the Purification of Memory – Fr. Z’s Blog
His Whole Life was Lived Amidst Love, None of Us can Ask for More – The American Catholic
The Vatican & Beijing’s Long-Term Bets Against Each Other – Ed. Condon at The Pillar
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — September 4, 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 to seminarians: ‘As I look at each of you, I see the marvelousness of God’ - By Victoria Cardiel - The pope highlighted God’s freedom, from which every vocation springs. “There is no competition, no ranking, nor is it written that he chose the best: He chose those he willed. In a world so intent on celebrating personal self-fulfillment, it is important to remember that none of you, nor any of us, is here because we earned it.”
10 years a saint: The truth about Mother Teresa’s care for the dying - By Daniel Payne - Jim Towey, an American attorney who first met Mother Teresa in 1985 and then served as legal counsel for her and the Missionaries of Charity, strongly disputed the claim that the nun was “indifferent to the pain of people.”
Maine high court says father can prevent daughter from attending mother’s church - By Daniel Payne - A Maine father will be allowed to prevent his daughter from attending a local Christian church with her mother, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court said in a ruling this week. The father “is better suited to determine whether certain religious activities are in the child’s best interest.”
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.
ICE HITS NEW RECORD FOR MONTHLY ARRESTS - August marked the third consecutive month that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has broken its previous record for the highest number of monthly arrests. Approximately 51,000 illegal aliens were arrested over the course of August, including more than 2,100 who were arrested in the hugely successful “Operation Rotten Apple” in New York City.
MICHIGAN’S REPUBLICAN GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE BACKS FEDERAL SCHOOL TAX CREDIT PROGRAM - Republican gubernatorial candidate John James pledged to opt Michigan into the Education Freedom Tax Credit, which gives donors a tax break for supporting state-approved scholarship funds. Democrat Jocelyn Benson, James’ rival and incumbent Secretary of State, criticized the plan.
GALLUP: MORE AMERICANS SAY PARENTS SHOULD MARRY - The share of Americans who agree that a man and a woman who have a child together should be married to each other is at its highest point since 2013, a Gallup survey found. Since 2020, the share of Americans supporting married parents has increased by 10 points, largely driven by Republican voters and weekly churchgoers.
September 4, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Friday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Catholic365
What might it be like when we step into eternity?
By Ralph Hathaway, September 3, 2024
I have had numerous dreams regarding Church affiliations that always left me feeling good. Anything that touches my heart when I do spiritual things does that. Upon waking, I have felt elated that my mind is on Christ, gleaned from his mission to call me into ministry. What might it be like when we step into eternity? It could be what a dream might hand us, especially if the results promise everything we’ve always desired for spiritual goodness. In a dream last night, I walked into graciousness. People close to me, or who have played a role in my ministry, were there. My wife and I were in a church with many priests and Bishop David Bonner of Youngstown, OH. All were fully vested and preparing for Mass, and we began the procession to receive Holy Communion, but something was missing. The ciborium was empty. Then it hit me. I realized the empty ciborium meant at least one more mission was waiting before the final reception of the Holy Eucharist. Once that is completed, then perhaps my ministry is done.
Catholic World Report
The surreal storm of the support for Lindsay Clancy
By Anne Hendershott, September 3, 2026
Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother charged with murdering her three young children, had become a rallying point for thousands of women who believed she was the true victim. During her trial, more than 300 women gathered outside the courthouse to support her. For these women, Clancy is the true victim of a patriarchal justice system that did not understand women’s needs, and an overburdened medical system that refused to properly treat the postpartum depression. Clancy admitted that she killed each of her children by strangling them. The coordinated display of empathetic solidarity, replete with handmade signs stating “Believe” and “She Needed Help,” is a textbook case of mimetic identification, attempting to imitate Clancy’s suffering and elevate her into a kind of martyr. The narrative redefined Clancy as the victim, but her children have been forgotten, just as the distraught father of these children, who discovered the lifeless bodies of his children—murdered by his own wife.
Catholic Exchange
Finding grace in parental failures
By M.C. Holbrook, September 4, 2026
Some time ago, I ran into an old friend, and as we caught up on each other’s lives, she said, “You’ve always been such a patient mom.” I had no idea what compelled her to make this claim, given that I had not seen her in years. Regardless, instead of boosting my ego, her words prompted me to take a brief inventory of all the times in my life in which I had failed to be patient with my children. And then I felt like a hypocrite. Where did she get the idea that I was patient? She said, “But you are a patient mother. Just because you’re patient doesn’t mean that you’re perfectly patient.” When we remember our past parenting, what stands out most are the times we failed to be patient, understanding, gentle, and kind. We have perhaps three or five—or even twenty—really awful memories of our failures, but we have focused on them and replayed them so many times in our mind that it seems to us more like a thousand.
Bishop Barron
Jesus is the wedding of heaven and earth
By Bishop Robert Barron, September 4, 2026
Friends, in today’s Gospel, people ask Jesus why he doesn’t encourage fasting among his followers. Jesus’s answer is wonderful: “Can you make the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?” (That’s a typically Jewish style, by the way, answering a question with another question.) This great image of the wedding feast comes up frequently in the New Testament, most obviously in the wedding feast at Cana narrative. It is echoed in tradition. Jesus is the wedding of heaven and earth, the marriage of divinity and humanity; he is the bridegroom and the Church is the bride. In him, the most intimate union is achieved between God and the world. Could you imagine people fasting at a wedding banquet? The mark of the Christian dispensation is joy. Exuberance. Delight. God and the world have come together. What could be better news?
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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