Catholic Nutshell News: Saturday 5/17/25
Topics include: The unreligious state of NH, Forgotten conflict in eastern DRC, 100 years of Saint Thérèse, & Pope Leo XIV reaffirms Church stances on life & family
“We see through new tender verdant pecan leaves”
Today's news sources are Aleteia, CRUX, Catholic News Agency, Our Sunday Visitor, National Catholic Register, Aleteia, and The Catholic Thing. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
Please support the following Catholic news services and spiritual support sites. Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.
National Catholic Register
2025 Eucharistic Pilgrimage begins in the unreligious state of NH
By Matthew McDonald, May 17, 2025
The 33-day Jubilee 2025 NH Eucharistic Pilgrimage begins with a kick-off Mass Sunday morning at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Manchester. The national route last year did not include New Hampshire, which surveys find is one of the least religious states in the United States. The New Hampshire pilgrimage includes several single young adults who plan to participate the entire time, performing tasks such as carrying canopies, carrying torches, helping set up services, singing, and evangelizing passersby. They know that going to church isn’t popular in the Granite State. But they expect a turnaround. “I would just like to be part of that whole revival — to see my state set on fire for him,” said Jessica Swope, 20, of Derry, New Hampshire, a freshman at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack.
Catholic News Agency
U.S. Vatican ambassador confirmation delayed with 50 others
By Jonah McKeown, May 17, 2025
Senate Democrats this week blocked the confirmation of Brian Burch, President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, stalling the confirmation process ahead of Pope Leo XIV’s installation Mass on Sunday. Making good on a pledge he first announced in February, on Tuesday, Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz placed a blanket hold on all State Department nominees. The Senate must now vote on each of Trump’s ambassadorial nominees individually, including Burch, after Senate Democrats rejected an effort to expedite Burch’s confirmation by unanimous consent. According to Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Catholic, there is a backlog of over 50 nominees currently waiting for Senate approval. The vote on his nomination will likely be delayed for several more weeks.
Related: ‘Hope to millions under siege’: Religious persecution watchdog praises Brian Burch’s confirmation hearing remarks, CatholicVote, by Rachel Quackenbush, April 11, 2025
Agenzia Fides
Forgotten conflict in eastern DRC: ‘100 days of liberated Goma’
By Agenzia Fides, May 14, 2025
“Goma, capital of the North Kivu region, two million inhabitants. An occupied city, on its knees. Stretched along the shores of Lake Kivu, caressed by the heat of the Nyiragongo volcano, its beauty and the peace of some thirty years are turning into tears of fear and death.” This is the dramatic testimony sent to Fides from Goma, from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which fell into the hands of the M23 rebels at the end of January. On January 28, after two days of intense fighting between the regular Congolese army, supported by the “Wazalendo” (patriotic militias), against the AFC (Congo River Alliance) and M23 (rebel group supported by the Rwandan army) a “liberation” left thousands of innocent civilians dead, many of them in their own homes, built with precarious materials, incapable of offering any shelter. Looting, rape, and abuse perpetrated by armed men from various factions have left deep scars.
Aleteia
100 years of Saint Thérèse: Canonized May 17, 1925
By Kathleen N. Hattrup, May 17, 2025
On May 17, 1925, Pius XI canonized the little Carmelite from France who would become the only Doctor of the Church named by John Paul II (in 1997), Thérèse of Lisieux. Pius XI called her the star of his pontificate. Here are articles that cover her legacy:
St. Thérèse’s Little Way was quiet rejection of a heresy
St. Thérèse’s beautiful reflection on the Holy Face of Jesus
Judging a sin without judging the sinner: How to do it like St. Thérèse
Why perfection seemed simple to St. Thérèse and how we get it all wrong
CatholicVote
Pope Leo XIV reaffirms Church’s stance on life, family, & gender
By Rachel Quackenbush, May 16, 2025
Pope Leo XIV offered a strong reaffirmation of Catholic teaching on the dignity of human life during his first formal address to the Vatican diplomatic corps, making clear his position on issues like abortion and assisted suicide. Speaking from the Apostolic Palace on May 16, the Holy Father stressed that justice must begin with protecting the most vulnerable. “No one is exempted from striving to ensure respect for the dignity of every person,” he said, “especially the most frail and vulnerable, from the unborn to the elderly, from the sick to the unemployed, citizens and immigrants alike.” He also underlined the foundational role of the traditional family in society. “This can be achieved above all by investing in the family, founded upon the stable union between a man and a woman, ‘a small but genuine society, and prior to all civil society.’”
CRUX
South African Catholic leaders refute claims of white genocide
By Ngala Killian Chimtom, May 17, 2025
Catholic leaders in South Africa blasted the Trump administration over claims of an ongoing genocide against white South Africans. Trump recently claimed “genocide” was taking place in South Africa say ing white farmers were being “brutally killed” and their “land is being confiscated.” Trump’s claim is based on the fact that in January, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a bill intended to address the land dispossession that black people faced during white-minority rule. White farmers, most Afrikaans-speaking South Africans, are descendants of Europeans who settled at the southern tip of Africa in the mid-17th century. The government of South Africa has engaged in affirmative action to bridge the gap between black and white South Africans, including land appropriation. A group of 59 white South Africans arrived in the U.S. as refugees.
The PILLAR
Vance requests a papal sit-down
By The Pillar, May 16, 2025
The last public official to meet with Pope Francis, Vice President JD Vance, asked for a weekend sit-down with the late pontiff’s successor, sources close to the Vatican Secretariat of State told The Pillar Friday. Along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the vice president is expected to arrive in Rome Saturday, ahead of the inauguration Mass of Pope Leo XIV on Sunday. U.S. State Department officials will meet with their Vatican counterparts Saturday/ Whether the Apostolic Palace will schedule a meeting between the pope and Vance is unclear. Pope Leo has met with global diplomats accredited to the Vatican, but not publicly with a head of state or any other high-ranking government figures, though he did have a publicized telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
The Times of Israel
Iranian supreme leader says Jewish state must be ‘uprooted’
By Agencies & ToI Staff, May 17, 2025
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said US President Donald Trump was lying about his intentions for the region, and once again called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that must be uprooted. In his first reaction to Trump’s regional visit, Khamenei said Trump wasn’t truthful when he made claims about creating peace through power and said the Americans must be ousted from the region. “Trump said that he wanted to use power for peace, he lied. He and the US administration used power for the massacre in Gaza, for waging wars in any place they could,” Khamenei said Saturday during a meeting with teachers broadcast on state television. Khamenei, who has the final say on all Iranian state matters, reiterated his traditional stance, calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.
From CNA & Big Pulpit to Satire for 5/17/25
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — May 17, 2025
Catholic News Agency provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and happenings of the Holy See to anyone with access to the internet.
An Augustinian pope: Upholding Africa’s legacy and embracing Eastern Christianity - May 17, 2025 - By Souhail Lawand - By Jude Atemanke - many wonder about Pope Leo XIV’s connection to the East, given his North and South American roots and his affiliation with the Augustinian order — a community not widely known in the Arab world.
The meaning of Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration Mass and taking possession of St. John Lateran - May 17, 2025 - By Victoria Cardiel - The Mass for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate will mark the official beginning of his ministry as successor to St. Peter.
New Mexico diocese uses classic cars to drive vocations and evangelization - May 17, 2025 - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - V8’s for Vocations, a classic car raffle, continues its 10-year tradition of bolstering vocations in the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico.
The Big Pulpit
Tito Edwards Catholic blogger site: May 17, 2025
The Big Pulpit website is an intelligent news aggregator offering quality insight & analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide. Here are Chief Editor Tito Edward’s top recommendations for today.
Cardinal Danneels Admits in Public to the Existence of the St. Gallen Mafia – Cthlc Conclave
How Much Can I Drink Before It’s a Mortal Sin? – Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D., at Word On Fire
Solving ‘The Mystery of Joy’ with Philosopher Peter Kreeft – Gigi Duncan at Our Sunday Visitor
Revisiting Taulkinham: Flannery O’Connor’s City of Sin. . .73 Years Later – Catholic Exchange
Babylon Bee’s Satire News
Lesser-Known Healing Miracles In the Bible
By Christian Healthcare Ministries Staff, May 16, 2024
The Bible is full of fantastic accounts of healing miracles where people were instantly cured of leprosy, blindness, and even being lame. But there are even more Biblical healings you may not have heard of.
The divine healing of Peter's hamstring: After being healed, he never lost another footrace to John.
A severe case of Swimmer's Ear was rebuked and departed from John the Baptist: Many believed on that day.
Judas's Tennis Elbow miraculously healed just in time to play in the Jerusalem Open: And yet he still betrayed Jesus. Heartbreaking.
The reversal of Matthew's male-pattern baldness: He never had to wear his yarmulke out of embarrassment again.
At least 724 out of the 5,000 people fed were healed of their gluten sensitivity: They were able to eat like normal human beings from that day on.
Nutshell reflections for 5/17/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection - AUDIO & VIDEO - May 17, 2025
Saturday of the Fourth Week of Easter
Word on Fire
At one time, the idea of secular space was not a ‘thing’
By Alejandro Terán-Somohano, May 15, 2025
Anglican theologian John Milbank opens his well-known book Theology and Social Theory by claiming, “Once, there was no secular.” What he means is that the idea of a “secular” space, an area of human existence from which God can be safely bracketed out, is one that “had to be instituted or imagined, both in theory and in practice.” This secular domain was not a reality that ancient and medieval men were unaware of because of superstition and ignorance, as they were, for example, ignorant of the existence of microbes. Rather, it was not a thing at all. Milbank argues throughout his book that this idea of the secular—which is not only essential to the project of modernity but is the project itself—is the fruit of a Christian heresy, of a misconstrued reading of the dominion God granted man in the beginning, a dominion which came to be seen as the granting of an autonomous space for man’s action.
The Catholic Thing
The energy and interest over Pope Leo in the U.S. is remarkable
By Stephen P. White, May 15, 2025
The election of Leo XIV comes at a significant moment in the life of the Church in the United States. Though Leo spent much of the past four decades outside the United States — primarily in Peru, but also in Rome — it would be hard to overstate the opportunity (and challenge) that comes with having a pope who is a native son of these United States. Trying to predict how a pontificate will play out this early in the game is a fool’s errand, but there is good reason to suppose that Pope Leo is reluctant to appear more preoccupied with the affairs of the world’s only superpower than the responsibilities of his office require. In short, he won’t want to seem like a homer. Nevertheless, the energy and interest his election has created here is remarkable.
Bishop Barron
Jesus has become our advocate
By Bishop Robert Barron, May 17, 2025
When we pray in the name of Jesus, we are relying on his intimacy with the Father, trusting that the Father will listen to his Son who pleads on our behalf. In the Letter to the Hebrews, we hear that Jesus, like us in all things but sin, a fellow sufferer with us, has entered as our advocate into the heavenly court. Risking a crude comparison, it is as though Jesus is our man in city hall, a representative for us in the place of ultimate power. The analogy breaks down because the Father must not be construed as a reluctant and distracted executive, annoyed by the petty appeals of his constituents, which a persistent lobbyist mediates. For the author of the Letter to the Hebrews, Jesus has become our advocate, precisely because the Father wanted him to assume this role for us; therefore, presumably, the Father delights in hearing us call upon him through his Son.
First Things
No genocidal regime offers humanitarian assistance to its victims
By Gerald McDermott, May 9, 2025
For some months now Israel, conducting a war against genocide, has been accused of practicing its own genocide through this war. This is the charge that animates a new book by Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem. Isaac’s argument in Christ in the Rubble is that Israel has “systematically killed a large number of Palestinians, including children” by “target[ing] a significant part of the Palestinian population. . . . If fifty thousand [reported by Hamas] isn’t mass killing, what is?” But everything in the Gaza war suggests the absence of this intent. For example, if Israel intends to kill Palestinian civilians, why does it send Arab-language warnings to civilians before attacks? Why does it evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors? Why does it send foot soldiers on dangerous missions when bombs dropped from the air can kill far more? No genocidal regime provides humanitarian assistance to its alleged victims as Israel has done.
Image of Pecans by tseiu from Pixabay
Listen to an audio podcast of today’s Catholic Nutshell News on the Substack App!
At the top of your phone, while in the Substack app to read our post, you can press the ▶️ play button and have Catholic Nutshell News read to you daily …
