Catholic Nutshell News: Monday 9/29/25
Topics include: 'Missionary Hubs'; A victory for ‘people’s power’; Culture inundated with ‘cacophony of bad news’; & Relics may be weird, but are indispensable
“Worth your weight in walnuts”
Today's sources are Catholic News Agency, Graphs about Religion, OSV, Aleteia, Fides, UCA, CWN, National Catholic Register, & Word on Fire. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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Catholic News Agency
Philadelphia Archdiocese launches ‘missionary hubs’
By Daniel Payne, September 29, 2025
Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez on Sept. 29 announced the designation of multiple “missionary hubs” throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese, part of a broad effort to help bring lapsed Catholics back into the Church while highlighting the “deeply positive impact” the Church has had on the region. The rollout comes after Pérez earlier this year revealed the 10-year plan aimed at bringing Catholics back to the pews. Missionary hubs serve as “a new method of evangelization that will be instrumental in reaching out to Catholics who no longer attend Mass regularly and others seeking a spiritual connection in their lives and an outlet to serve those in need.” The hubs will feature trained individuals under the leadership of the parish’s pastor. the archdiocese will also be rolling out a marketing campaign, dubbed “Catholic. Every Day,” that will broadcast on local TV and radio stations. It will also be featured on displays such as billboards and bus shelters.
CRUX
Deal to end Syro-Malabar civil war a victory for ‘people’s power’
By Nirmala Carvalho, September 29, 2025
After a tentative deal was reached recently to settle a protracted conflict over liturgy and power within the Syro-Malabar church, which became so bitter at points that clergy and laity actually blockaded churches and defied a direct papal edict, one observer has called the settlement the result of “a spontaneous unleashing of people’s power.” “It was a spontaneous unleashing of people’s power born of an unwavering commitment to a progressive liturgical movement that is in line with the global Church in prayer and collective decision,” said Father Paul Thelakat, a former official spokesperson of the Syro-Malabar Church. “It elevated them to a state of Christian ethical mind where they were willing to undergo any suffering to achieve a goal that they strongly believed in.”
Aleteia
A plan for culture inundated with ‘cacophony of bad news’
By Agnès Pinard Legry / Anthony Cormy, September 29, 2025
Cardinal François Bustillo, Bishop of Ajaccio (Corsica), standing at almost 6 feet 7 inches tall, readily admits that he’s naturally “optimistic and full of hope.” But he too is immersed in the “continuous cacophony of bad news” that buzzes constantly in society. Fiercely convinced that society is better than that, that it deserves to be happy and to know the face of Christ, he published a book, “Réparation,” on September 10. “A better society is possible,” says the Franciscan. “We must repair what has been broken.” Bustillo criticized the “reign of suspicion” and the “virtual court” of social media, which turns everything into a “pretext for attack” and encourages “media lynching.” He explained that, “On social media and in the traditional media, we often lack compassion. Yet, at the beginning of Mass, we all say, “Lord, have mercy.” How, then, can we move from a society perceived as merciless to a society of compassion and love?”
Vatican News
African Cinema owes a nod to the legacy of Guido Convents
By Fr. Paul Samasumo, September 26, 2025
Guido Convents, a Belgian national who recently passed away, was a dedicated and pioneering scholar, film critic, historian, and anthropologist. Charles Ayetan, a Togolese media practitioner, film critic, and expert on African cinema, was a friend and colleague of Guido. He says that Guido Convents’ impact on African cinema is a legacy worth celebrating. Guido was a tireless advocate for African images, especially African cinema. For decades, he dedicated his life to researching and extensively publishing on the history of African cinema and also ensuring visibility for African filmmakers. In all, he published nearly seven books on African film. Guido founded and regularly organized the Afrika Filmfestival in Leuven, which served as an important platform for promoting African films. He was committed to strengthening the presence of the Catholic Church in international film festivals and supporting the recognition of filmmakers through Ecumenical and SIGNIS Awards.
The Pillar
Congolese bishops push for peace as massacres multiply
By Antoine Roger Lokongo, September 24, 2025
There are an estimated 252 local armed groups and 14 foreign armed groups operating in the lawless eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a Central African nation, committing a string of deadly attacks against civilians, including Catholics, in recent weeks.. But much of the recent violence has been attributed to two organizations: the Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, an Islamist insurgency, and the March 23 Movement, or M23, a rebel paramilitary force. Congo was liberated from Belgian rule in 1960, and it is the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa. A population of roughly 109 million people, almost half are Catholic. It is located in Africa’s volatile Great Lakes region, where war has raged frequently over the past 65 years, claiming millions of lives. Recent upheaval in the eastern Congo can be traced back to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.
Our Sunday Visitor
Relics may be weird, but are an indispensable part of our faith
By Simcha Fisher, September 26, 2025
The Catholic Church is accustomed to preserving small fragments of bodies, bones, scraps of hair, and pieces of cloth, placing them under glass, and praying before them in our homes and churches. Why do we do this? “Anywhere you have the authentic Catholic faith, you have relics,” said Sean Pilcher, founder of Sacra, a Minneapolis-based private organization that restores and documents relics. Early Christians preserved bones and relics of saints. It was something new, and their pagan neighbors were baffled and sometimes horrified to see them so comfortable with death. Jewish people considered dead bodies ritually impure. Cultures that worshipped their ancestors generally did so with more fear than reverence. “Relics are inherently sacred things. If you say St. Andrew is in heaven … the soul of St. Andrew is experiencing the beatific vision, but his body is really him. It’s still on earth.” Relics have a particular relation to the risen body of Christ.
Graphs about Religion
Social Issues drive a wedge between young women and men
By Ryan Burge, September 29, 2025
Dan Cox’s excellent Substack - American Storylines posted a study, “The Gender Gap in Church is Growing.” He uncovered that Christian women aged 18-24 are significantly more progressive on each issue compared to men of the same age. For instance, 54% of the female sample said that “acceptance of transgender people is a positive change.” Only 29% of the male sample agreed. That’s not a small gap! It’s a chasm, really. Young men have stopped leaving church in droves and are probably just as religious as young women at this point. But the other side of that coin is that young men seem to be either moving to the right of the ideological spectrum or not budging from a more moderate position. At the same time, younger women are clearly trending toward the left - especially on social issues. On the legality of abortion, women tend to be about five points more supportive than their male counterparts. That five-point gap is also there on the issue of same-sex marriage.
National Catholic Register
Archbishop Naumann accuses Cupich of ‘Pastoral Neglect’
By Shannon Mullen, September 27, 2025
Another U.S. bishop publicly rebuked Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich for his plan to honor pro-abortion Sen. Richard Durbin with a lifetime achievement award. Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann — recently retired ordinary of Kansas City, Kansas —said it is a “source of scandal” for the cardinal to recognize the Illinois senator, calling it a case of “pastoral neglect.” Archbishop Naumann is the latest American prelate to chastise Cardinal Cupich for deciding to honor Durbin — a Catholic politician whose own bishop banned him from receiving Communion in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois — at the Chicago archdiocese’s Keep Hope Alive immigration-ministry fundraising dinner on Nov. 3. Naumann, a past chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ pro-life committee, said Cupich’s rationale “makes no sense.” “Dialogue does not require giving awards to Catholic political leaders who disregard the most fundamental of human rights, the right to life of the unborn.”
CatholicVote
Missouri first lady leads charge to repeal pro-abortion position
By Grace Porto, September 26, 2025
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe’s wife, First Lady Claudia Kehoe, is playing a key role in a 2026 initiative to protect unborn lives by banning abortion in the state. According to the Missouri Independent, Kehoe is serving as treasurer for the Her Future, Her Health PAC, which seeks to repeal a 2024 state constitutional amendment that allowed abortion up until the point of fetal viability, typically about 24 weeks. The radical amendment, which advocates purported as “moderate,” narrowly passed with 51.6% approval in November 2024, according to the Washington Post. “I don’t recall in my over 40 years as pro-life lobbyist a first lady taking such a prominent role for any ballot measures — let alone a pro-life one,” said Sam Lee, who helped campaign against the 2024 abortion amendment.
CNA, UCA, and CNW News for 9/29/25
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — September 29, 2025
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.
CNA explains: What is transhumanism? - Sep 29, 2025 - By Father Michael Baggot - What exactly is transhumanism (a “Don’t Die” movement, which is called a new religion), and how does the Church approach it?
Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael: The 3 great archangels of the Bible - Sep 29, 2025 - By Daniel Payne - Today, on the feast of the archangels, we celebrate the powerful helpers sent by God throughout salvation history.
From Ohio to Erbil: Student missionaries help revive Catholic education in Iraq - Sep 28, 2025 - By Georgena Habbaba - Franciscan University’s St. Thomas Mission blends teaching, faith, and service in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.
UCA News
The Union of Catholic Asian World News - 9/29/25
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
Rights group slams China’s proposed ethnic unity law - September 29, 2025 - It would push parents, guardians to ‘educate and guide minors to love the Chinese Communist Party,’ says HRW
US pilgrims at Jubilee of Catechists meet pope - September 29, 2025 - Pope Leo XIV told them that all Catholics, by virtue of their baptism, are called to be teachers of the faith
Indian actor-politician’s rally stampede kills 40 - September 29, 2025 - Police in southern Tamil Nadu charge three aides of actor Vijay with culpable homicide and negligence
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.
Seamless garment? Cardinal Cupich mixes the metaphor - By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Sep 24, 2025 - The more important problem is moral. It arises in Cardinal Cupich’s strained effort to invoke the seamless garment theory of morality
The Catechism protects us from individualism and discord, Pope tells catechists. On September 28, Pope Leo XIV told 20,000 catechists in attendance that the Catechism of the Catholic Church is “the ‘travel guidebook’ that protects us from individualism and discord, because it attests to the faith of the entire Catholic Church.”
Bishop Zanchetta released on parole - Sept. 29, 2025 - An Argentine court released Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta on parole, three years after his conviction on charges of sexually abusing seminarians. The prelate spent most of his prison sentence on house arrest in a monastery.
Nutshell reflections for 9/29/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - September 29, 2025
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
Word on Fire
The virtue of living ‘As if’
By Dr. Richard Clements, September 29, 2025
In Andrew Klavan’s book The Truth and Beauty, I came across a passage in which Klavan criticizes people who consider themselves “Christian atheists”: There are those today who call themselves Christian atheists, who want the values of Christianity but can’t believe in the religion itself. They say, “Perform faith,” or, “Live as if God exists,” or, “Let us call ourselves Christians.” But they are buying into the premise of uncertainty and deconstructing the very absolute on which they want to depend. This criticism struck me as a bit harsh. “Christian” atheism is, of course, an oxymoron, but it is still vastly preferable to alternative forms of atheism, such as a militantly dogmatic atheism rooted in a materialist worldview. For those who find it difficult to act “as if” God existed, Roger Scruton recommended an alternative: the path of high culture, which Scruton believed could teach us “to live as if our lives mattered eternally.”
National Catholic Register
How religious communities influence college life
By Jack Figge, September 28, 2025
“College is super formative, and what happens within the context of the four years is huge for the decades that follow. I know that, for me, a ton of formation happened during college,” Benedictine Brother Maximilian Anderson said. “Thus, there is a real desire for me to accompany young people during what’s an important period of life for them.” He told of Franciscan University of Steubenville, “The monks were this silent but significant presence throughout my time in college here.” Despite fewer vocations and a diminished presence on many campuses, religious communities continue to play a critical role in the formation of college students as they govern and minister at various Catholic universities and colleges nationwide. Students are introduced to a community’s particular charism or way of life and are deeply affected by the presence and witness of the religious who walk these campuses.
George Weigel
Wouldn’t Augustine think Cupich & Chow were negligent shepherds?
By George Weigel, September 25, 2025
Take, for example, this sharp warning from Augustine: The negligent shepherd fails to say to the believer: My son, come to the service of God, stand fast in fear and in righteousness, and prepare your soul for temptation. A shepherd who does say this strengthens the one who is weak and makes him strong… But what sort of shepherds are they who for fear of giving offense not only fail to prepare the sheep for the temptations that threaten, but even promise them worldly happiness? What, then, might the 5th-century Bishop of Hippo say of two 21st-century bishops, Cardinal Stephen Chow, SJ, of Hong Kong and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago? Cardinal Chow spoke insisted that there was no religious persecution in Hong Kong. Chow’s brother cardinal, Blase Cupich of Chicago, defended his decision to bestow a “lifetime achievement” award on Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois–a tribute that would certainly give St. Augustine pause.
The Christian Post
History: CS Lewis converts, Pope Leo the Great is consecrated
By Michael Gryboski, September 28, 2025
Memorable events that occurred this week in Christian history include the consecration of Pope Leo the Great and CS Lewis’s conversion to Christianity. “I know very well when, but not how, the final step was taken. I was driven to Whipsnade one sunny morning,” Lewis recounted. “When we set out, I did not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo, I did.” This week marks the anniversary of when Pope Leo I, also known as Pope Leo the Great, was consecrated, beginning a reign that would endure until his death in 461. Leo I oversaw the Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon, which, among other things, reaffirmed the orthodox Christian teaching that Jesus Christ had both a divine and a human nature. “The pope’s plea echoed in Attila’s ears like a command. The Hun raised Leo to his feet, swore to an enduring truce, and retreated with his legions across the Danube.”
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