Catholic Nutshell News: Monday 4/27/26
Topics include: Pro-life ministry brings ultrasounds to classrooms; Death of nearly 8000 migrants in 2025; A firm handshake may be a thing of the past; & White America’s Republican drift
“Worth your weight in walnuts”
Today's sources are Crux, Graphs about Religion, Aleteia, The PILLAR, OSV News, Catholic Culture, & EWTN News. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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EWTN News
Pro-life ministry brings ultrasounds to classrooms across the U.S.
By Madalaine Elhabbal, April 25, 2026
On the 2012 anniversary of Roe v. Wade, during a Holy Hour, Nikki Schaefer and her 7-year-old daughter, Grace, were inspired to start a simple ministry to sell hand-sewn pro-life pillows to raise money for pregnancy centers. Today, Heart of a Child Ministries has expanded into a fetal development education program present in K–12 classrooms across the country. The ministryʼs initial sale of the pro-life pillow raised roughly $40,000 shortly after they began, Schaefer told EWTN News. “With the sale of the pillow, we were featured in an article, and that’s how the first invitations to schools started to emerge in 2015.” Founded in Omaha, Nebraska, Heart of a Child Ministries is growing into a multistate presence, with two new fetal-certified educators in Illinois: one in Springfield and another set to be trained in Mokena in October. The organization also now has certified educators in Alabama and Idaho.
CRUX
Death of nearly 8000 migrants in 2025 is a tragedy, says bishop
By Fionn Shiner, April 22, 2026
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) released a report on Tuesday that found approximately 7,900 migrants died or went missing in 2025, bringing the total since 2014 to over 80,000 deaths. “With more than 80,000 deaths and disappearances documented during migration worldwide since 2014, the nearly 8,000 deaths documented in 2025 mark a continuation and escalation of a global failure to end these preventable deaths,” the UN agency stated in the report, which is released annually. “While these figures represent only the lowest boundary of the true number of affected people, they nonetheless underscore the need for urgent action to end migrant deaths and address the complex needs of families left behind,” the IOM added. In 2024, the number of deaths was 9,200.
Aleteia
College of Cardinals now down to 120 members
By I.Media, April 27, 2026
On Wednesday, April 15, Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni celebrated his 80th birthday, losing his status as a cardinal elector by the end of the day. With that transition, the College of Cardinals came to have exactly 120 voting-age members. This is the exact canonical limit established by Pope Paul VI, although the “limit” is often surpassed with a greater number of electors. In recent years, the 120-elector limit set by Paul VI in his 1975 apostolic constitution Romano Pontifici Eligendo has been repeatedly surpassed. Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and especially Pope Francis all exceeded this number. In fact, Francis seemed to treat the threshold as a floor rather than a ceiling. For example, the College of Cardinals had 135 voting-age members at the start of the 2025 conclave, with 133 ultimately participating. The 120 cardinals who currently make up the College of Cardinals were created by the last three popes. The vast majority — 99 cardinals — were created by Francis.
Indian Express
‘Anglicans and Catholics must … overcome differences’
By Devin Watkins, April 20, 2026
Pope Leo XIV held an audience on Monday with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dame Sarah Mullally, and prayed with her in the Urban VIII Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. In his greetings, the Pope expressed his joy at receiving the Archbishop during the Easter season, recalling the historic encounter between Pope St. Paul VI and Archbishop Michael Ramsey, which took place 60 years ago. He also expressed appreciation for the ministry of the Anglican Centre in Rome, greeting its Director, Bishop Anthony Ball, who represents the Archbishop of Canterbury at the Holy See. Pope Leo recalled the many decades of theological dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans that have been made along the path to restoring “complete communion in faith and sacramental life.” Despite its complexity, he said, this ecumenical journey has borne fruit regarding various historically divisive issues, noting that the Anglican Communion is currently facing “many of these same questions at this time.”
The PILLAR
A firm handshake could soon be a thing of the past
By Ed. Condon, April 24, 2026
But some things change just too completely too quickly to let pass. For example, I read this week that the simple practices of shaking hands and looking people in the eye as you talk to them are likely to go the way of the necktie (don’t get me started). Apparently, more than a quarter of young people will “actively avoid” or decline shaking hands because it provokes “social anxiety” — 40 percent can’t make eye contact when speaking to someone. As anyone who has lived in adult society for any stretch of time will tell you, how a person shakes hands and looks you in the eye tells you a lot about them. Now, fine, I am a grumpy middle-aged man. But when I was a kid, you were literally told to “shake hands and look people in the eye” when you met someone. These were not optional; they were absolutely mandatory behaviors, and learning to do them was part of growing up, as ubiquitous and non-negotiable as learning to read or do basic math.
National Catholic Register
When teaching the faith becomes a crime in Iceland
By Jennifer Roback Morse, Maura Eckels Scherber, April 24, 2026
In March, Father Jakob Rolland, a Catholic priest in Iceland, was placed under investigation after stating in a radio interview a teaching of the Catholic Church regarding the Eucharist — specifically, that those aware of unconfessed grave sins, including homosexual acts, should not receive Holy Communion. This placed him at risk of criminal charges for possible violations of Iceland’s “conversion therapy” ban. But Father Rolland did not, in fact, do what he was accused of. So what is the real issue in Iceland: a priest offering “conversion therapy” or a government targeting a belief it finds intolerable? Iceland’s ban on conversion therapy “prohibits any person to cause an individual, through coercion, deception or threats, to undergo an unproven treatment with the aim of suppressing or changing sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, and makes them subject to fines or imprisonment for so doing.” Nothing Father Rolland did fit that description.
Graphs about Religion
White America’s Republican drift
By Ryan Burge, April 27, 2026
It has become increasingly the case that to be white and Christian is to support the Republican Party. If you take a peek at the partisan composition of white Christians as far back as we can (1972), you see a much more complete portrait. In 1972, a clear majority of white Christians (regardless of their denominational affiliation) were Democrats. That, by itself, is downright shocking to many audiences when I show a version of this graph. It is important to note here that these weren’t the types of Democrats that we know in modern political discourse. There are only two ways for this to really happen. One is called generational replacement. But there’s another possibility — white Christians simply began to change their minds about politics as each year passed. The reason for the white Christian shift toward the Republican Party is that a whole bunch of people just happened to change their minds at nearly the same time. If you look at the “entry point” for the younger generations of white Christians, you see that they come into adulthood with a much more Republican-leaning outlook than their parents or grandparents.
Our Sunday Visitor
Virginians march against extreme abortion amendment
By D. Hunter Reardon, April 27, 2026
On Nov. 3, Virginia voters will face a referendum on an amendment that, if passed, would enshrine virtually unlimited access to abortion in the state constitution. On April 22, pro-life advocates took to the streets of downtown Richmond in protest during the annual Virginia March for Life. “St. George was known as the dragon slayer,” Bishop Barry C. Knestout of Richmond said. “Today, we have a dragon hovering over Virginia seeking to devour life and to take life, to destroy that great good that God has given us.” The amendment would create risky loopholes for unlicensed abortion providers to perform unregulated abortions at any time, even up until birth; would not protect babies born alive after a failed abortion; and would severely jeopardize the current Virginia parental consent law designed to protect minors. “I don’t think the public is aware of what’s in the amendment, and just how far it goes,” said John Curran, who traveled with the Knights of Columbus Council 6828 from St. Bede Parish.
EWTN, UCA, and CW News for 4/27/26
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — April 27, 2026
EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.
U.S. bishops say violence ‘never the answer’ after shooting at White House press dinner - By EWTN News Staff - Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, condemned violence, and Bishop David Bonnar of Youngstown, Ohio, said the issue of gun violence must be addressed.
Pope Leo XIV tells new priests: ‘You are a channel, not a filter’ - By Victoria Cardiel - The pope ordained 10 men to the priesthood on Good Shepherd Sunday and later warned at the Regina Caeli against the “thieves” that rob people of freedom, dignity, and peace.
The laywoman who has quietly formed a generation of priests and sisters in South Asia - By Sumon Corraya - For decades, Lobdine Chisim, a lay teacher and catechist from Mariamnagar Parish in Bangladesh’s Diocese of Mymensingh, has been one such influence — helping shape a generation of priests and religious sisters through personal sacrifice, faithful accompaniment, and maternal care.
UCA News
The Union of Catholic Asian World News - 4/27/26
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
Buddhist monks arrested with large quantity of narcotics in Sri Lanka - April 27, 2026, UCA News reporter - The 22 monks, who arrived from Thailand, were caught concealing over 110 kilograms of drugs worth $3.45 million. The drugs were hidden in tampered-with luggage compartments, packed alongside school materials and confectionery. Each suspect was found to be carrying around five kilograms.
Pakistan churches reject proposed amendments to Christian marriage law - April 27, 2026, Kamran Chaudhry - The amendments to the Christian Marriage Act of 1872 seek to raise the minimum legal age for marriage for Christian boys and girls to 18. It also requires both parties to be Christian for a marriage to be solemnized under the law, replacing the current provision that permits marriage between a Christian and a non-Christian.
Global military spending surges amid insecurity: report - April 27, 2026, AFP, Stockholm - Spending rose for an 11th straight year in 2025 as wars and rising tensions drove increased defense budgets worldwide.
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.
Training the tongue for virtuous conversation, w/ Fr. Gregory Pine - by The Catholic Culture Podcast - Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P., joins the podcast to talk about his new book Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech. He answers questions about small talk, cheekiness, oversharing, using humor to avoid vulnerability, Millennial vs. Gen Z irony, correcting others, and openness to pursuing the truth.
What happened to my old parish? - by Phil Lawler - The Mass schedule offered nine options on Sunday (there was no anticipatory Mass in those days). The early-morning Masses were sparsely attended, but by mid-Sunday morning, there would be two Masses celebrated simultaneously—with slightly staggered start times—in the upper and lower churches. And the pews would be full.
A test of Leo’s pontificate? - by Dr. Jeff Mirus - Although it is good to see Leo XIV travelling to different areas around the world to emphasize the care of the Pope for all Catholics, and indeed for all persons everywhere, at some point his pontificate will be judged—as were those of St. John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis—by how well he controls the administration of the Church itself, that is, by his appointment of solid bishops and his correction of those ecclesiastical and academic leaders who refuse to uphold the fullness of the Catholic Faith.
Nutshell reflections for 4/27/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - April 27, 2026
Monday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Word on Fire
Blessed Alberto Marvelli, ‘Engineer of charity’
By Isabelle Larivee, April 25, 2026
It inspires so much hope when one discovers a saint close to their own era. Sweeter is that discovery when the saint shares one’s vocation, and lay saints are relatively few and far between. And so it was my sweet surprise to discover a recent blessed of the Church who lived the lay life and walked the tightrope of being in the world but not of it: an active politician who won the respect of even the Communists, lived through the bombings of World War II and the Nazi occupation of Rimini, and was a talented engineer and dedicated high school teacher. His name was Alberto Marvelli, and he has been dubbed by some the “Engineer of Charity.” When his hometown of Rimini was under German occupation, many innocent people were taken in trains to concentration camps. Alberto broke open the sealed cars and freed those he could before the trains left the station.
Dominicana
Saint Ambrose, warrior for Christ
By Br. Ambrose Power, O.P., April 23, 2026
Imagine that your city has been breached by attackers. You are tasked with defending your homeland, but you have no weapons. What should you do? Saint Ambrose found himself in such a situation. After being made the Bishop of Milan, Ambrose immediately had a problem on his hands: an enemy had breached the gates of his city. That enemy was the heresy of Arianism, a Christological error that denies the full divinity of Jesus Christ. How would Ambrose fight back? Throughout his time as shepherd of souls, Ambrose relied on three spiritual weapons to combat the heresy of Arianism and fight for the glory of Christ: sacred study, constant prayer, and fervent preaching. In the end, Ambrose successfully drove out the Arian heresy from his diocese. The odds were often stacked against the saint. But amid these difficulties, Ambrose relied on the spiritual weapons Christ had given him.
George Weigel
‘Ecclesiacide,’ then and now
By George Weigel, April 22, 2026
Pardon the Latin-rooted neologism, but if “patricide” works for murdering your father and “regicide” for taking out a king, why not “ecclesiacide” for trying to kill an entire Church? That’s what happened some eighty years ago, on March 8–10, 1946, at St. George’s Cathedral in L’viv, Ukraine. There, what was alleged to be a church council (or sobor) voted to annul the 1596 Union of Brest and thereby reunite the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). from primary source material in the Ukrainian state archives, that the so-called “L’viv Sobor” of 1946 was engineered by the Soviet security services and had no more moral, spiritual, or legal legitimacy than any other act coerced at gunpoint. To be sure, this “pseudo-sobor” was a strategic failure, as the Soviet Ministry of State Security acknowledged shortly afterward. In the matter of Russia and Ukraine, it’s the same old same old, eighty years later. Politicians and diplomats who imagine that religious conviction, genuine or perverted, plays no role in world affairs should think again.
Matt Fradd’s Terrifying Ruminations
The Bible presupposes a Church already in existence
By Matt Fradd, April 25, 2026
The idea is simple: what matters most in Christianity is clearly taught in Scripture and easily grasped by any sincere reader, while whatever is unclear must be secondary. But first, notice this principle isn’t taught in Scripture. Scripture itself suggests otherwise: some passages are hard to understand and can be misread (2 Peter 3:16), others require guidance to grasp (Acts 8), and even where God’s word is said to give light (Psalm 119), it is never claimed to make all saving truths immediately obvious to every reader. But if God established a Church and gave it authority to teach and explain what has been revealed, then we can have a kind of certainty that the Bible alone was never meant to provide. As Scott Hahn said somewhere, “the Bible is not an instruction manual for a Church still in shrink wrap; it presupposes a Church already in existence.”
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