Catholic Nutshell News: Monday 1/19/26
Topics include: Virginia's ‘extreme abortion amendment’; Cardinals seem cautious with Leo XIV; In pursuit of monasticism; & A generational collapse of American religion
“Worth your weight in walnuts”
Today's sources are Crux, Graphs about Religion, Aleteia, Fides, Dominica, UCA, Catholic Culture, & Catholic News Agency. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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CatholicVote
Virginia Catholic Bishops blast ‘extreme abortion amendment’
By CV News Feed, January 18, 2026
The Catholic bishops of Virginia issued a forceful rebuke this week after the Democratic-controlled General Assembly advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine broad abortion rights into the state constitution. In a statement published Jan. 16, Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond described the legislation as an “extreme and deadly ‘fundamental right’ to abortion” that will now go before voters in a statewide referendum later this year. “This amendment would go far beyond even what Roe v. Wade previously allowed,” the bishops said, noting that lawmakers fast-tracked the measure through both chambers in just the opening three days of the 60-day legislative session – a pace the bishops called “truly shocking to the conscience.” Under the proposal approved by the state House and Senate, the Virginia Constitution would guarantee the ability to obtain an abortion at any stage of pregnancy without age restrictions.
CRUX
Cardinals cautious at start of Leo XIV’s reign
By Christopher R. Altieri, January 19, 2026
At the Consistory of Cardinals last week, Pope Leo gave cardinals the choice of which of four items to discuss over their two-day meeting—the first of his pontificate—and the cardinals chose “synod and synodality” and Evangelii gaudium, arguably the more nebulous of the four topics on offer. Ahead of the Jan. 7-8 gathering, four senior Vatican officialshad each prepared a paper on their area of responsibility for the internal use of the cardinals taking part in the meeting. Conspicuous by way of absence from Cardinal Fabio Baggio’s paper was any discussion or even hint at arguably the thorniest notion driving the broad curial reform during the whole Francis era: The idea that “the power of governance in the Church does not come from the sacrament of Holy Orders, but from the canonical mission,” received from the pope. That notion would—in theory—make it possible for lay persons and religious without Holy Orders to exercise governance power. It is a wonky sort of question, the sort of thing best left to time for sorting rather than to cardinals or legal experts. Yet, sooner or later, it must be addressed one way or another.
Aleteia
Cardinal Parolin’s words for his ‘beloved Venezuela’
By Paulo Teixeira, January 19, 2026
Venezuela wasn’t in the headlines last week for economic crisis or political strife. Rather, it was in the spotlight as the “beloved Venezuela” that Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope’s Secretary of State, invoked with the choked voice of one who knows that land’s suffering. At a Mass for the canonization of St. José Gregorio Hernández and St. Carmen Rendiles Martínez, illustrious children of that homeland, Parolin spoke to those in the pews of the Vatican Basilica, but it seemed as if his gaze was fixed on those listening to the radio in the remote corners of the Andes and the young people who would follow his message on the internet in the slums of Petare. Cardinal Parolin didn’t shy away from the hard facts. Standing beside the relics of the Venezuelan saints, he recalled that faith is a force of resistance that calls for dignity and peaceful coexistence based on truth. He emphasized “Doctor of the Poor” as the model citizen that Venezuela needs to rebuild itself: someone who puts science at the service of charity and politics at the service of others.
OSV News
In pursuit of monasticism
By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe, January 6, 2026
Praying for vocations usually means praying for more priests. That’s a good and necessary effort, of course, because without priests, there is no Eucharist. But there’s another vocation that may be even more endangered. And what’s been happening in the church — and in our culture — over the past few decades should prompt us to ask what should be a dismaying question: Is monasticism disappearing from the Catholic Church? But in the Ozark mountains of northwest Arkansas, they are — and have been for nearly 50 years. Initially fueled by a wildly successful music career, John Michael Talbot didn’t just embrace Catholicism; he pursued monasticism. Little Portion Monastery and Hermitage is a testament to Talbot’s personal calling, but the life of the community there is also a powerful witness to the enduring value of monasticism in the church. A best-kept secret in the American Catholic Church, what Little Portion offers is worth sharing.
Catholic News Agency
Catholic Church declares ‘Mexico is not condemned to violence’
By David Ramos, January 19, 2026
The Catholic Church in Mexico will bring together more than 1,000 leaders from various fields for the second edition of the National Dialogue for Peace to be held Jan. 30–Feb. 1 at the campus of ITESO Jesuit university in Guadalajara, Jalisco state. A statement by the Mexican Bishops’ Conference (CEM, by its Spanish acronym) indicated that 1,370 people will participate in the event, including bishops, priests, and Catholic laypeople; victims of violence, university students, business leaders, government officials, intellectuals, experts, and people of different religious faiths. The urgent need for this dialogue became clear after the murder of Jesuit priests Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora, who were trying to protect tour guide Pedro Palma in Cerocahui, Chihuahua state, in June 2022. “Mexico is not condemned to violence. Peace is possible, it is measurable, and it must begin today,” the CEM affirmed.
PIME Asia News
2025 marks China’s lowest birth rate since 1949
By PIME Reporter, January 19, 2026
The number of births in China fell to a record low last year, decreasing by about 10 million from the peak in 2016 and reducing the total by more than half in less than a decade, while the country’s population declined for the fourth consecutive year. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, only 7.92 million children were born in 2025, a 17% drop from 9.54 million in 2024. This is the lowest figure since records began in 1949. In a further report from Luna Sun in Beijing, for the South China Morning Post, 11.31 million people died last year—one of the highest totals in five decades. “The pace of the decline is striking, particularly in the absence of major shocks,” said Su Yue, principal economist for China at the Economist Intelligence Unit. She added that a reluctance among young people to get married, along with rising economic pressures—particularly an increase for women in the perceived cost of stepping away from employment—served as major birth deterrents.
Graphs about Religion
There is a generational collapse of American religion
By Ryan Burge, January 19, 2026
Called age-period-cohort (APC) effects, the data says religious attendance has dropped significantly in the 2024 data compared to the same age buckets in the survey from the early 1970s. Among 18–29-year-olds in that early survey, just 19% said they attended religious services less than once a year. For that same group in the 2024 data, almost half were in the never/seldom category. An increase of thirty percentage points. That’s a universal finding, by the way—no matter what age category you compare, the 2024 sample is significantly less religiously active. A birth cohort is sometimes called a “generation” in common parlance. For instance, Millennials are technically a birth cohort, and so are Baby Boomers. But the better way to operationalize cohorts is five-year birth windows. When Baby Boomers were 18–29, 25% attended weekly. For every generation born after 1945, attendance has remained remarkably stable for decades. However, among the last three generations, there’s simply no sign of a late-life return to church.
The Jerusalem Post
New Gaza governing committee meets, shows progress
By Giorgia Valente, January 19, 2026
Palestinian and regional officials confirmed that Saturday in Cairo, a new National Committee for the Administration of Gaza was formally authorized as part of the transition to what Washington frames as “phase two” of a broader ceasefire-and-reconstruction plan. Egyptian-linked and regional reporting described the Cairo meeting as the committee’s inaugural session and pointed to the signing of its mandate and operating framework. The committee is not a government but is described as a 15-member Palestinian “technocratic” body, chaired by Dr. Ali Sha’ath, a Gazan engineer and economist with previous ties to Fatah, tasked with restoring core civilian services and managing early recovery and reconstruction. The National Committee is only one tier. A second tier—an international Gaza Executive Board—will oversee reconstruction and interface with security arrangements. President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” a wider mechanism, chaired by Trump, is later intended to expand to other conflicts.
Omnes
Polarization is far from the only risk with AI algorithms
By Jose Maria Navalpotro, January 19, 2026
Digital technology has contributed to polarization. By reinforcing one’s own ideas and discarding those of others, the algorithm contributes to a decrease in dialogue and, thus, less knowledge of what the other thinks. This is one of the theses of the Franciscan Paolo Benanti in his latest book, The Collapse of Babel, published by Encuentro. But polarization is far from the only risk. At the beginning of January, it was known that Grok, Elon Musk’s AI model, facilitated the creation of sexual images from images uploaded by women on the social network “X”. Friar Paolo Benanti (Rome, 1973), a moral theologian, is one of the world's leading experts on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI). “When we talk about artificial intelligence, we are not talking about a single technology, but about a family of algorithms, very different from each other. Some of them are very explainable. It reminds us a little bit of the first GPS: how many times did the GPS tell you to exit on the right and then immediately re-enter on the left?”
CNA, UCA, and CW News for 1/19/26
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — January 19, 2026
The Catholic News Agency provides reliable, free, and up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, available to anyone with internet access.
Bishop Barron says ICE should focus on ‘serious’ criminals, urges protesters to ‘cease interfering’ - Jan 19, 2026 - By Daniel Payne - Bishop Robert Barron has called on immigration officials to focus on deporting only serious criminals while also urging U.S. protesters to "cease interfering" with the work of immigration agents. Barron issued the statement on Jan. 18. He was made bishop of the southern Minnesota diocese in 2022.
Thousands expected at San Francisco’s Walk for Life West Coast - Jan 19, 2026 - By Jim Graves - The Walk for Life West Coast will be held in the streets of downtown San Francisco on Saturday, Jan. 24.
Catholic women discuss beauty, difficulty, redemptive nature of Church’s teachings on sexuality - Jan 18, 2026 - By Amira Abuzeid - The latest legal and cultural effects of a “mass cultural confusion” address the meaning and purpose of the human body, and particularly women’s bodies, according to Leah Jacobson, program coordinator of the Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
UCA News
The Union of Catholic Asian World News - 1/19/26
UCA News (UCAN) is the leading independent Catholic media service from Asia, with a convergent media approach that couples traditional journalistic practices with multimedia and social media
Thousands remain homeless weeks after Sri Lanka cyclone - January 19, 2026 - Survivors struggling to access state assistance due to excessive paperwork, says Catholic bishop.
Thieves enter Indian Catholic school, desecrate prayer hall - January 19, 2026 - Blessed species missing, their present condition and whereabouts remain unknown, says Nagpur archbishop
Indian court seeks end to false complaints amid rise in conversion cases - January 19, 2026 - Since 2021, more than 500 cases have been filed against Christians, without any evidence of conversion
Catholic World News
CatholicCulture.org from Trinity Communications
Catholic World News (CWN) is an independent Catholic news service staffed by lay Catholic journalists, dedicated to providing accurate global news from a distinctly Catholic perspective.
Pope proclaims Year of Saint Francis, with special plenary indulgences - Pope Leo XIV has proclaimed a Year of Saint Francis to mark the 800th anniversary of the death of the beloved saint. The year began on January 10, 2026, and will conclude on January 10, 2027, the Holy See Press Office announced on January 16, as it made public a decree of the Apostolic.
Cardinal Parolin decried violations of international law, collapse of multilateralism - In a lecture delivered on January 17, the Secretary of State of His Holiness emphasized that peace and justice should “once again become the pillars of order among nations, and not merely remain simple aspirations or empty claims.” Cardinal Pietro Parolin addressed the Pontifical.
3 cardinals issue statement on US foreign policy - Cardinals Blase Cupich of Chicago, Robert McElroy of Washington, and Joseph Tobin of Newark issued a joint statement, “Charting A Moral Vision of American Foreign Policy.” “In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War. The events in Venezuela, Ukraine, and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.”
Nutshell reflections for 1/19/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - January 19, 2026
Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time
Word on Fire
Triumph, disappointment, and hope in Spain
By Henry T. Edmondson III, January 19, 2026
The Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV will visit Spain in June; his itinerary is tentatively set to include Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands. This may well be a divinely ordained trip, given that Spain seems to be at a tipping point politically and spiritually. The constitutional monarchy has begun a slow transition of the crown from a conservative, level-headed father to a charming, intelligent daughter who may restore the institution's prestige and influence. The leftist government may be at its end stage, and an apparent migration of Spanish voters to rightist parties may—or may not—portend hope for the future; and Christian renewal movements may soon see a growth spurt. Spain has been massively influential in the history of the Church. The Iberian country is home to three of the great Doctors of the Church: the Hispano-Roman St. Isidore of Spain, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross. Although not officially a Doctor, St. Ignatius of Loyola from Spain’s Basque region is a Doctor of the Church in all but name.
Dominicana
Putting a face to the Holy Name
By Br. Joshua Lukez, O.P., January 13, 2026
What is in a name? Shakespeare famously muses in his work Romeo and Juliet that there is really nothing inherently special about a name: “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Yet names actually convey meaning about the realities they describe. Think about what happens when you hear the name of a friend. Many thoughts come to mind: the image of his face, memories you have shared, and that friend’s qualities. For this reason, the name of God has special importance. It conveys to us his qualities and reminds us of his saving work. Devotion to the Holy Name has an important place in Catholic tradition, and the Dominican Order has been entrusted with spreading it since the 13th century. At the Second Council of Lyons, Pope Gregory X charged Blessed John of Vercelli, then the Master of the Order, to spread reverence for the Holy Name among the faithful.
National Catholic Register
It’s a great time to be a Catholic
By Patti Maguire Armstrong, January 18, 2026
It’s a great time to belong to the one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church, complete with all seven sacraments, devotion to Mary, and consistent teachings supported by the writings of the early Church Fathers. God has protected His Church against cultural storms and individual failings through the ages. Reflecting on this spiritual fortress in our own time, there are blessings especially unique to the present moment. The Catholic Church is surging, and Catholic media is leading the way. Catholics are contributing in a big way across all media platforms. Seeing women identifying as Lutheran bishops and priests, paired with with a casual, sentimental approach to Jesus, has given me a deeper appreciation for the Catholic priesthood. As the need for exorcism and deliverance rises, so too has the number of priests training in this ministry. Since 2000, around 1,000 saints have been canonized.
Bishop Barron Reflections
Jesus will gather the scattered tribes
By Bishop Robert Barron, January 19, 2026
Friends, in today’s Gospel, the Lord says his disciples do not fast because God is holding a great wedding banquet. You find the theme of the wedding throughout the Old Testament as a motif to express God’s covenant with his people. We’ve fallen apart in sin. We’ve gone into exile. And what does God want? He wants to call us back to a great wedding banquet. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, you find that same motif: He will gather the scattered tribes—yes, the elite, but also the sinners and the outcasts. All are welcome around the table of the Lord, establishing this wedding banquet and unity that God wants with his people. Jesus presents himself as the coming together of heaven and earth. He is at this wedding banquet. “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Because this great banquet is going on!
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