Catholic Nutshell News: Monday 1/5/26
Topics include: Reaction to Venezuela with calls to prayer; Transition in Venezuela to ‘a place completely different'; & Israel bans dozens of aid groups from Gaza
“Worth your weight in walnuts”
Today's sources are Crux, Graphs about Religion, Aleteia, Fides, 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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Christian Post
Like Catholics, Evangelicals react to Venezuela with calls to prayer
By Christian Daily International, January 3, 2026
Evangelical leaders in Venezuela and abroad reacted to the events with caution and calls for prayer. In a statement signed by Pastor José G. Piñero, executive director of the Evangelical Council of Venezuela, the organization expressed its concerns for the nation and renewed calls for prayer and a focus on facilitating peace. “We extend our prayer and solidarity to all brothers and fellow citizens who are going through moments of uncertainty or fear,” the Evangelical Council of Venezuela said. “We reaffirm our confidence in the sovereignty of God, who reigns over the nations and guides history according to his eternal purpose.” They urged citizens and people of faith, “not to be dominated by fear or anxiety,” and to limit their time on social media, instead focusing on prayer and their families. From exile in Florida, Venezuelan leader Aristóteles López (founder of March for Jesus in Venezuela) described the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his transfer to U.S. territory as divine intervention and the fulfillment of justice for a nation that has suffered for so long.
Related: Pope Leo XIV Calls for Respect of Venezuelan Sovereignty After U.S. Capture of Maduro, by Victoria Cardiel/CNA/ACI Prensa, January 4, 2026
Related: Venezuela bishops urge their people to pray, Aleteia, by Kathleen N. Hattrup - published on 01/05/26
CRUX
Transition in Venezuela to ‘a place completely different’ than now
By Regina Garcia Cano, AP, January 5, 2026
An anxious quiet fell over Venezuela's capital on Sunday as trepidation mixed with joy as a nation waited to see what comes next. People were slow to resume routines in Caracas after President Nicolás Maduro was deposed and captured in a dramatic U.S. military operation. Dozens of stores, restaurants, and churches remained closed. Those on the streets looked shell-shocked, staring at their phones or into the distance. “People are still shaken,” said 77-year-old David Leal, who arrived to work as a parking attendant but realized he likely would not have customers. He pointed to the deserted street, a few blocks from Venezuela’s presidential palace, which was guarded by armed civilians and military personnel. “We want to see Venezuela transition to be a place completely different than what it looks like today. But obviously, we don’t have the expectation that’s going to happen in the next 15 hours,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.
Aleteia
Priest blessed the Steelers, then they clinched a playoff spot
By Christine Rousselle, January 5, 2026
The Pittsburgh Steelers knew they needed to win on Sunday, January 5, or their season would be over. The back-and-forth game came down to the wire, with the Steelers clinching the win after the Baltimore Ravens missed a field goal in the game’s final seconds. But it was something that happened before the game that really got Steelers fans talking. A priest — Fr. Maximilian Maxwell, O.S.B., prior of Saint Vincent Archabbey in Latrobe, Pennsylvania — was spotted praying and sprinkling Holy Water on the field at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have a longtime connection to the Benedictine monks at Saint Vincent Archabbey. Since 1966, the Pittsburgh Steelers have held their training camp at Saint Vincent College, which is operated by the Benedictines. NBC's Sunday Night Football aired Maxwell's blessing, with commentator Mike Tirico noting with a laugh that "the Catholic community in Pittsburgh is very strong."
OSV News
Israel bans dozens of aid groups from Gaza, including Caritas
By Judith Sudilovsky, January 2, 2026
Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Jerusalem are among 37 international aid organizations that Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs has banned from operating in Gaza. The organizations’ licenses were revoked as of Jan. 1 for failing to meet new, stricter security and transparency standards for their Palestinian and international employees. Israel set a 10-month deadline for nongovernmental organizations to meet new requirements that mandate the complete disclosure of their staff, funding sources, and operational structures. The deadline ended on Dec. 31. Israel said the new standards are necessary to rule out any links to terrorism and terrorist organizations and noted that the organizations that have had their licenses revoked represent about 15% of NGOs working in Gaza. Israel opposes moving to the second stage of the ceasefire, which includes rebuilding infrastructure, preventing weapons from entering Gaza, and disarmament of Hamas and other terrorist groups, and economic investment, until Gvili’s body is returned.
Catholic News Agency
Father Spitzer on Guadalupe tilma, Eucharistic miracles at SEEK
By Gigi Duncan, January 3, 2026
As the SEEK Conference continues this week in Columbus, Ohio — one of three locations, alongside Denver and Fort Worth — college students packed a hall to hear Father Robert Spitzer, SJ, examine scientific research into Eucharistic miracles and the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Father Spitzer, host of EWTN’s “ Father Spitzer’s Universe,” is known for addressing questions at the intersection of faith, reason, and science. He founded The Magis Center, which launched MagisAI in 2025, an artificial intelligence tool designed to answer questions about theology, morality, Scripture, and science. “I want to be very clear,” Spitzer told the audience. “My objective is to offer good, scientific evidence of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.” Spitzer also spoke on the tilma of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which has survived for nearly 500 years. Made from agave cactus fibers, which normally decompose within decades, the image has never cracked or faded.
Pime Asia News
Dissident Bialiatski released, but thousands more still jailed
By Ma Phyu Phyu, January 5, 2026
Thanks to negotiations with Donald Trump’s emissaries, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko freed more than a hundred political prisoners in December, including some of the leaders of the 2020 protests, such as Maria Kolesnikova, a well-recognised activist, and Ales Bialiatski, a former vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureate noted that a thousand more people are still jailed in a “never-ending vicious circle.” Bialiatski was arrested for the first time in 2011 and then again in 2021. After his release, he was exiled to Lithuania, where he gave an interview to Radio Liberty (Радио Свобода, Radio Svoboda) a few days after his arrival. Founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre, he became one of the iconic figures of the repression that followed the protest movement sparked by Lukashenko’s rigged election in 2020. In power since 1994, the Belarusian president is the doyen of post-Soviet dictators.
Graphs about Religion
Mormon party lines tell a mixed story - still mostly Republican
By Ryan Burge, January 5, 2026
Older Mormons are strongly Republican. In the Nationscape survey, nearly 70% of 60-year-old Latter-day Saints aligned with the GOP, while about 20% identified as Democrats, and the remainder called themselves Independents. But as you move down the age ladder, that partisan gap starts to narrow. The logical conclusion is that the GOP is losing ground among what has traditionally been a rock-solid voting bloc. Yet, a majority of Latter-day Saints between the ages of 18 and 35 voted for Donald Trump in 2024. That wasn’t true in either 2016 or 2020. I’m not fully convinced that we’re seeing a clear shift toward social liberalism among younger Mormons. It’s a mixed picture at best. Why? Strong evidence suggests young adult Latter-day Saints hold social policy views very similar to those of older adults. This is a point I feel like I make all the time: less conservative does not mean more liberal.
Christian Science Monitor
An opening for Venezuelans’ intrinsic sovereignty
By Monitor’s Editorial Board, January 3, 2026
The American capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro as an alleged fugitive from U.S. justice – while an impressive military feat – has opened a vigorous, global debate about its legality. Is unilateral foreign intervention justified when a failing authoritarian state commits atrocities at home and exports drugs and migrants? Yet for millions of Venezuelans – joyful over a dictator’s exit – the question is less about international law than about their quest for the very basis of law: the freedom of sovereign individuals to choose their government and maintain a shared civic identity. “The time has come for popular sovereignty and national sovereignty to prevail in our country,” Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate María Corina Machado declared in a weekend social media post.
Omnes
Why does Leo XIV want to meet with his cardinals?
By Bryan Lawrence Gonsalves, January 5, 2026
The January 2026 gathering will be the first time most cardinals have been together since Pope Leo XIV’s election. Many had little chance to meet before the conclave. That means the College is still unfamiliar with the Pope’s major pontifical priorities. Hence, this meeting is not only about agenda items. It is also about relationships, trust, and coherence. That is why the meeting has symbolic weight. Pope Leo XIV is bringing together a body that is geographically vast and often divided by experience, culture, and priorities. If he can create real communion and a workable way of collaborating, he strengthens his ability to govern and lead the Church. The stated aim is to offer “support and advice” to the pope and to strengthen communion between the Bishop of Rome and the cardinals.
CNA, UCA, and CW News for 1/5/26
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — January 5, 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 happenings of the Holy See to anyone with internet access.
A look ahead: 2026 U.S. midterms hinge on key races in Maine, North Carolina - Jan 5, 2026 - By Daniel Payne - Democrats need only a net gain of four seats to flip the Senate and a net of three districts to win the House. Thirty-three seats in the U.S. Senate are up for election, while two states will hold special elections. All 435 districts of the U.S. House of Representatives, meanwhile, are holding elections.
Nearly 2 million people to march in Poland for Three Kings Procession - Jan 5, 2026 - By CNA Staff - The annual event draws participants who dress as biblical characters, wear paper crowns, and sing Christmas carols across 941 cities and towns nationwide.
Puerto Rico enacts law recognizing legal personhood of the unborn child - Jan 4, 2026 - By David Ramos - In a breakthrough, Puerto Rico passed a law recognizing the legal personhood of the unborn child, which acknowledges that the conceived child, “at any stage of gestation within the mother’s womb,” is a “natural person.”
UCA News
The Union of Catholic Asian World News - 1/5/26
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
Christians wary amid targeting of Sunday services in Indian state - January 5, 2026 - There’s a pattern of forcefully video recording prayer services and streaming them on social media, says pastor Ravi Joseph, who was arrested for allegedly trying to convert poor people.
Nepal’s ex-PM protests crackdown inquiry - January 5, 2026 - Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli stated on Jan. 4 to a government commission investigating the deadly crackdown on a youth-led uprising in September. The probe is to examine unrest that killed 77 and toppled his government
Sri Lanka to probe English syllabus’ gay website link - January 3, 2026 - Sri Lanka launched a criminal investigation on Jan. 2 after a government syllabus for 11 and 12-year-olds directed pupils to a gay chat website to improve their language skills.
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.
Terrorists attack Nigerian villages, reportedly re-abduct some Catholic school students - Terrorists attacked two villages in Nigeria’s Niger State, killed at least 35 people, and abducted “many others,” the Abuja-based Premium Times reported. “Our parish priest narrowly escaped abduction when the terrorists visited our mission house three days ago,” said a spokesman for the Diocese of Kontagora.
Cardinal Bo proclaims Incarnation, message of peace to Myanmar’s military ruler - In a Christmas address delivered in the presence of Myanmar’s ruler, Min Aung Hlaing, Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon proclaimed that God became incarnate and brought a message of peace. Min Aung Hlaing, a general, seized power in a 2021 coup d’état, precipitating a civil war. The general, like most citizens of Myanmar, is Buddhist.
The Church is called to ‘silent and shared presence,’ Swiss bishop says after bar fire - Bishop Jean-Marie Lovey of Sion, Switzerland, said in an interview that the Church is called to offer a “silent and shared presence” to all who mourn the victims of the Crans-Montana bar fire, which left at least 40 dead and 119 injured.
Nutshell reflections for 1/5/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - January 5, 2026
Memorial of St. John Neumann, Bishop
Word on Fire
Radical and immediate manner in which God upholds creation
By Thomas J. Kronholz, January 5, 2026
Drawn upon the watery abyss, St. Peter fleetingly appeared to overturn nature and her laws, advancing toward Christ. The disciples, clinging to the boat in that fearful storm, surely locked eyes upon him, a mortal man treading upon the deep. What appeared a pure contravention of nature paradoxically revealed a deeper reality—a truth less perceptible to the senses. Standing upon the waves without support, Peter manifested the ultimate source of man’s support, both metaphysically and spiritually. Though Christians often misunderstand man’s relationship to the Creator, holding to naive models of the deists, this passage awakens us to the radical and immediate manner in which God upholds creation. This metaphysical truth further speaks to God’s action in the spiritual life, as he is likewise sovereign.
Dominicana
My eyes have seen the king!
By Br. Sean Piwowar, O.P., December 30, 2025
Isaiah received an honor scarce few had ever received: the chance to gaze upon God in his glory. His reaction was rather intense; he cried “Woe is me!” and trembled in his unworthiness. Being close to God was for him an experience of great fear, great awe. “My eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” he declared. It is a privilege to be in the presence of the eternal God—but intimidating as well. Isaiah’s vision is just one of many scriptural accounts of face-to-face encounters with God in his glory. These Old Testament encounters with the Lord remind us that God is big, powerful, and beyond our deepest comprehension. Underpinning these meetings are God’s own words that “man shall not see me and live” (Exod 33:20). So it’s nothing other than an honor, an unexplainable gift, to experience what this verse from Exodus suggests is impossible.
National Catholic Register
Inside the Papal Commission on Women and the Diaconate
By Deacon Dominic Cerrato, January 2, 2026
In 2020, Pope Francis appointed me, together with Deacon James Keating, Catherine Brown Tkacz, and eight others, to serve on the second Papal Commission on Women and the Diaconate. The commission was not merely gathering to analyze historical data or offer sociological recommendations. Instead, we were summoned to enter into the Church’s long tradition of discernment, to listen attentively to the voice of the Holy Spirit, and to reflect on a matter entrusted ultimately to the successor of St. Peter, the steward of divine revelation. At each step, we were reminded that this question of whether women may be admitted to the sacramental diaconate is not an abstract theological exercise. It is critical to understand that the question of women and the diaconate is not a referendum on women’s dignity, nor a measure of their capability or ecclesial importance.
Bishop Barron Reflections
Start living even now as members of this new kingdom
By Bishop Robert Barron, January 5, 2026
He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled … From that time Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 4:12-17). Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus says as he preaches, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” We mustn’t flatten this out or render it too spiritually abstract, as though he were talking only about becoming nicer people, more generous, and more kind. His preaching was about more than that. It was part and parcel of his messianic vocation. What he was saying was something like this: A new order is breaking out in Israel, the tribes are coming back together, and Yahweh is going to reign. Therefore, adjust your lives, your vision, your expectations. Start living even now as members of this new kingdom.
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