Catholic Nutshell News: Saturday 2/21/26
Topics include: Students studying theology in Germany plummets; Spain’s Sagrada Familia hits 566 Feet; Parents win bid to exempt children from LGBTQ; & Americans support taxing billionaires
“We see through new tender verdant pecan leaves”
Today's sources: National Catholic Register, EWTN News, The Pillar, Crux, George Weigel, Catholic World News, & Aleteia. (Catholic Nutshell is a FREE subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
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Zenit
The number of students studying theology in Germany plummets
By ZENIT Staff, February 14, 2026
Germany’s Catholic theological faculties are undergoing a contraction of historic proportions. In just six years, the number of students enrolled in full-cycle Catholic theology programs has nearly halved, raising profound questions about the future of priestly formation, pastoral leadership, and academic theology in one of Europe’s most influential Catholic nations. According to figures published on February 12 by KNA-Hintergrund, total enrollment in full-time Catholic theology programs fell from 2,675 students to 1,412. The decline is not evenly distributed. It is the state-run faculties—long considered the intellectual backbone of Catholic theological scholarship in Germany—that have borne the brunt of the downturn. Ecclesiastical institutions—those directly sponsored or governed by Church bodies—have experienced a milder contraction.
Related: German theology no longer has worldwide impact, by William K. Warren Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, EWTN, Feb 11, 2026
Aleteia
Spain’s Sagrada Familia reaches its full height - 566 Feet
By Daniel Esparza, February 21, 2026
Barcelona woke on Friday to a changed skyline. The Basilica of the Sagrada Familia reached its final height when workers set the upper arm of the cross atop the Tower of Jesus, bringing the church to 172.5 meters (566 feet). The immense white ceramic cross, standing 17 meters tall — roughly the height of a five-story building, about 56 feet — now crowns the tallest tower. By Saturday morning, the basilica could be seen at its full stature, a long-anticipated milestone reached in the midst of 2026’s Gaudí Year, which marks the centenary of the architect’s death. The official inauguration and blessing of the Tower of Jesus is scheduled for June 10. It is possible that this ceremony will be led by Pope Leo himself. Gaudí envisioned the cross gleaming in sunlight. Its surface includes some 15,000 ceramic pieces created from 500 molds in seven shades of white. The effect, once fully illuminated, will be luminous rather than imposing — a theological statement in stone and light.
The Pillar
‘Catholic out loud’ Dorothea Project reacts to immigration
By Michelle La Rosa, February 20, 2026
When the Steubenville, Ohio, mom and social worker Katie Holler saw that the government was revoking policies on the humane treatment of pregnant and postpartum women in immigrant detention facilities, she found it particularly troubling. From this effort came the Dorothea Project – a group of Catholic women working to promote education on the Church’s social teachings and prayer-based action grounded in those teachings. She was upset by the emphasis on detainment and deportation, the arrests of immigrants as they were arriving at court hearings, trying to move through the system legally, and the administration’s attempt to remove Temporary Protected Status for immigrants who had fled conflict or disasters in their home countries. The breaking point, for Holler, was seeing U.S. Customs and Border Protection announce it was rescinding protections for pregnant and postpartum women, as well as their infants, in immigrant detention facilities.
EWTN News
Parents win bid to exempt children from LGBTQ-themed books
By Daniel Payne, February 20, 2026
Montgomery County, Maryland, agreed to pay parents $1.5 million on Feb. 19 in a lawsuit over LGBT curricula in public schools, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in favor of the families last year. The ruling in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, which includes a permanent injunction and a settlement between the parents and Montgomery County, holds that the county board of education must notify parents “in advance” when school officials plan to teach gender- or sexuality-related materials in classrooms. School officials will be required to allow parents “to have their children excused from that instruction,” the agreement stipulates. The resolution also holds that the parents are “entitled to reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.” The religious liberty law firm Becket, which represented the parents in the dispute, said on Feb. 20 that the costs consist of $1.5 million in damages. Eric Baxter, senior attorney with Becket, said on Feb. 20 that in light of the ruling, “public schools nationwide are on notice.”
Jerusalem Post
Finland’s 850 Jews survive and thrive through anti-Zionism
By Mathilda Heller, February 21, 2026
Finland’s Jewish community is small. Around 850 have registered, but, many more choose not to register. People living in Helsinki are part of the wider community, such as spouses who are not Jewish. “If we were in New York, in Israel, everyone would go to at least 20 different synagogues. And in Finland, we all go to the same two [the Orthodox synagogue in Helsinki and the Orthodox synagogue in Turku],” said Chaya Votkin, president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki. “So I think that we have to really celebrate, first of all, diversity. Be proud of the fact that we are so different — different ages, different backgrounds — Ashkenazi, haredi, Mizrahi, you name it. And different languages. And I think there is beauty in it. If we can work together, we can be a model to the whole world.” The Jewish school has 80 students, and a kindergarten with 40 children. The school follows the Finnish curriculum but also teaches Hebrew, Jewish religion, and history.
Zeale
Americans support taxing billionaires & higher corporate taxes
By Hannah Hiester, February 20, 2026
More Americans say they want overall government spending reduced, yet large majorities support boosting funds for specific programs and oppose tax increases unless they target corporations and billionaires, according to RealClearPolling. The poll found that 43% of Americans want government spending to be decreased, and just 28% want it increased. However, most Americans support increased federal spending on Social Security (69%), Medicare (67%), aid to the poor (64%), Medicaid (59%), and veterans’ programs (74%). According to the outlet, the five programs “account for roughly 49% to 52% of federal spending, or approximately $3.3 trillion to $3.5 trillion in 2024.” Despite preferring reduced government spending, Americans generally oppose cuts to most programs. The poll suggests Americans favor increasing corporate and billionaire taxes to supplement government spending rather than raising income or Social Security taxes.
CRUX
Cardinal offers advice for U.S. political hopefuls
By Christopher R. Altieri, February 21, 2026
An interview with 95-year-old Cardinal Camillo Ruini – highly regarded by Pope St. John Paul II – contained observations regarding political figures, including U.S. President Donald Trump, which both readers and U.S. politicians would do well to note. An exhausted Italian electorate, disgusted with the status quo in 1994, chose late Italian center-right leader and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had made his bones in the construction industry before pivoting to television and building Mediaset, Italy’s first private nationwide TV network to compete with the RAI state broadcaster. A logical forerunner to Trump’s 2015 run for president. The two people most likely to succeed Trump in the Republican Party are both Catholics: Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They both might be eyeing what Ruini said about how the center-right political leadership of Italy, Giorgia Meloni rose to the top in the Berlusconi world. “We have a true friendship,” Ruini said.
National Catholic Register
A different side of Catholicism: Inside the ‘New York Encounter’
By Zelda Caldwell, February 12, 2026
The “New York Encounter” — the annual three-day cultural conference organized by members of the lay ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation, took place last weekend in Chelsea, Manhattan’s artsy West Side neighborhood — had a distinctly European feel. Italian is spoken almost as often as English, reflecting that many attendees live in the U.S. but come from Italy, where the movement began. The Italian influence extended to the food as well: white bean and escarole soup, prosciutto crudo and mascarpone sandwiches, gelato and espresso. It is not your typical American Catholic conference, to be sure. This year’s theme, “Where Everything Is Waiting for You,” began with the observation that the world is changing, but a hunger for belonging and meaning remains a constant in the human experience. Going to the “New York Encounter” gives you an idea of what it must have been like to be an early Christian.
EWTN News, aciafrica, & CWR for 2/21/26
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — February 21, 2026
EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, with updates on the words of the Holy Father and the Holy See.
Argentine priest urges bold witness after Latin Mass outside San Francisco abortion facility - By Martin Barillas - “We have to live without fear,” said Argentine priest Father Javier Olivera Ravasi, who hopes to inspire others to act boldly and give witness to life and faith. While Masses have been celebrated at the Planned Parenthood location in the past, the 48-year-old priest said he believes it was the first Traditional Latin Mass celebrated there.
450 seminarians compete in sixth annual De Sales Basketball Invitational - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - Seminarians from 18 seminaries across the country gathered Feb. 13–15 for a weekend filled with basketball, competition, and fraternity during the sixth annual De Sales Invitational at the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary in St. Francis, Wisconsin. The Saint Francis de Sales Shoremen won the championship 56-54 in overtime.
How the Formula 1 pit stop has saved thousands of babies - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - Formula 1 teams have helped doctors in NICUs work more efficiently in emergency situations by implementing techniques. They were struggling with making a smooth transition of babies in emergency situations from the operating room to the intensive care unit.
aciafrica
aciafrica’s top headlines — February 21, 2026
ACI Africa was founded in 2019 to provide free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Catholic Church in Africa, with particular emphasis on the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See.
Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Lands in Kenya to Review Refugee Camp Healthcare Projects, Deepen UN Engagement - Feb 21, 2026 - By ACI Africa Staff - Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo, the Grand Chancellor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, has arrived in Kenya for a five-day official visit to the East African nation, underscoring the Order’s expanding humanitarian and diplomatic engagement in the country.
Nigerian Catholic Bishop Threatens to Boycott 2027 Elections as Debate over Real-Time Results Transmission Intensifies - Feb 21, 2026 - By Abah Anthony John - Bishop Stephen Dami Mamza of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Yola has threatened to boycott the country’s 2027 general elections should authorities fail to transmit results from polling stations directly and in real time.
“Our Diocese is not a battlefield”: Catholic Bishop in Cameroon Decries Prolonged Violence - Feb 20, 2026 - By Jude Atemanke - Bishop George Nkuo of the Catholic Diocese of Kumbo in Cameroon has denounced the prolonged violence in his Episcopal See, calling for conversion, forgiveness, and renewed hope during the Lenten Season.
Catholic World Report
CWR’s Columns, Analysis, & Features - February 21, 2026
Catholic World Report is a free online magazine that examines the news from a faithful Catholic perspective.
Poet, martyr, and Saint: On the remarkable talent and inspiring faith of Robert Southwell - Dawn Beutner, February 21, 2026 - Every martyr’s death is different. When Bishop John Fisher of Rochester was brought to Tower Hill to be executed for treason against King Henry VIII, he was so sick that he had to be carried in a chair. Robert and his teenage friends formed their own secret society and promised one another to endure terrible tortures rather than give up their Catholic faith.
Gates of Heaven is the daring conclusion of an unusual, powerful Catholic trilogy - Amy Welborn, February 20, 2026 - In his most recent novel, Gates of Heaven (2025, Wiseblood Books), Glenn Arbery wraps up the complex, fraught, and evocative chronicle of friends, families, and foes working out their salvation in the contemporary American South and West.
Jesse Jackson and the weaponization of persons of color - Marcus Peter February 18, 2026 - As the nation marks Jesse Jackson’s death at age 84, I realize that the temptation will be either to canonize the man as an icon of civil rights sainthood or to dismiss him as a partisan relic. But both impulses function as modern ideological shortcuts.
Nutshell reflections for 2/21/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection: AUDIO - February 21, 2026
Saturday after Ash Wednesday
Catholic Stand
The fellowship of the unashamed
By Ray Sullivan, February 20, 2018
The fellowship of the unashamed is a manifesto written by a Rwandan Catholic right before he was martyred for the faith of the saints. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Christ, and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still … My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is Heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my Guide is reliable, and my mission is clear. I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. This man gave up his life for Jesus Christ during the bloody wars in Rwanda in the last century. The example that he set for us should not be in vain. While the time hasn’t come (yet) in the USA for physical martyrdom for Jesus as is occurring in Africa, the time HAS come for us to die to ourselves for Jesus. This daily dying – or taking up your cross daily (Luke 9:23) – means that we have to stop living solely to make money and to start acting differently than the worldly folks we share the planet with.
George Weigel
Remembering Angelo Gugel, St. John Paul II’s valet
By George Weigel, February 18, 2026
Those who remember the epic pontificate of St. John Paul II may recall a tall, handsome layman with well-combed, iron-gray hair, dressed in a black business suit, white shirt, and black tie, following the clerical members of the papal household into St. Peter’s Square on many great occasions, or carrying an umbrella over the pope’s head when it rained. That same man is at center stage in photos of the assassination attempt of May 13, 1981, helping support the stricken pontiff in the popemobile. His name was Angelo Gugel, and he died on January 15 at the age of ninety. The Vatican News story on his death gave him his official, somewhat baroque, title: first assistant of the chamber of his holiness. The story’s headline called him the pope’s “private attendant.” To P. G. Wodehouse, Angelo would have been the papal “gentleman’s gentleman.” In plain English, he was John Paul II’s valet. I remember him best, however, as a master chef.
First Things
Why I stay at Notre Dame
By John O’Callaghan, February 20, 2025
All the things one doesn’t like—perhaps, in one’s more sinful moments, even hates—about the Church can be found here. Walker Percy once told family members who were criticizing him for converting to Roman Catholicism, calling it a church full of sinners, that “The Catholic Church is a very good place for sinners to be, which is why there are so many in it.” I count myself among those sinners. Do people make mistakes in the Church and at Notre Dame? Yes. Does one become exasperated at the Church and at Notre Dame? Yes. Do people do good work in the Church and at Notre Dame? Yes. Does one find laughter and joy in the Church and at Notre Dame? Yes. Are there decent, good, and holy men and women in the Church and at Notre Dame? Yes. I have never met as many anywhere else but here. But I have also met decent, good, and holy men and women here at Notre Dame who are not Catholic, who are Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and, yes, even atheists.
Related: Why I’m Done with Notre Dame, by Christian Smith, First Things, February 13, 2026
The Catholic Thing
The joys of large families
By Eduard Habsburg, February 21, 2026
When it comes to the joys of large families, there’s more than just an ocean between Europe and the United States. This is what I discovered when I began to regularly travel between the two continents and give talks on the topic of the family. A full disclaimer first: I believe family is the greatest thing, and by family, I mean a large family. My wife and I were blessed with six children, and that experience has been life-changing, the greatest thing that ever happened to me (besides my faith, of course). So, naturally, I enjoy speaking about having many children. It will not surprise you to learn that being happily married and having a bunch of children is not the rule in old Europe. People are often shocked when I mention six kids. It is literally unheard of. It’s considered unreasonable even among more traditionally-minded families. But then something very interesting happened a few years ago, when I crossed the pond to speak at an event in the United States. I spoke of being married and of my six children. Nobody was shocked.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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