Catholic Nutshell News: Saturday 8/23/25
Topics include: David in ‘House of David’ becomes Catholic; Sacraments in Nebraska immigrant camp; Congo: ‘State of siege has worsened; & 41 Planned Parenthood closures in 2025
“We see through new tender verdant pecan leaves”
Today's news sources are Aleteia, CRUX, Catholic News Agency, National Catholic Register, First Things, and The Catholic Thing. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
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National Catholic Register
Actor who portrays David in ‘House of David’ becomes Catholic
By Francesca Pollio Fenton/CNA, August 22, 2025
Michael Iskander, the actor known for playing the lead role of King David in the new hit Prime Video series House of David, announced Aug. 21 that he has become Catholic. “Today is a very special day, that looking back has been a long time in the making. Today I joined the Catholic faith,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I’ve felt a calling to this Church for a long time, and as time went on, this calling became louder and louder.” He added, “Eventually I ran into some really amazing people that helped me along the way. And rather than being the end of the road, this is the beginning of the journey. Please pray for me as I continue my walk with God, and thanks for celebrating this day with me.” Iskander, 23, has shared in several interviews that he always dreamed of portraying King David. Iskander was advised by his mother to pray and fast ahead of the second audition.
Catholic News Agency
Nebraska immigrant camp must allow sacraments, says bishop
By Daniel Payne, August 23, 2025
Nebraska Bishop James Conley said a proposed federal immigrant detention facility in the state must allow Catholic ministers to provide sacramental and pastoral care. The bishop made the announcement after Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen announced the repurposing of the state Work Ethic Camp in McCook to house immigrants in the country illegally. The state website says the camp presently offers "an integrated program that combines evidence-based practices with treatment and educational opportunities" for prisoners. Pillen told local media this week that the facility "would be converted and provide capacity for 300 migrants," according to the Nebraska Examiner. In his statement, Conley said the Diocese of Lincoln has been allowed to administer the sacraments and pastoral care to detainees at the camp "for decades," and to say Mass "on a weekly basis,"
Agenzia Fides
Bunia, Congo: ‘State of siege has worsened the situation’
By Agenzia Fides, August 22, 2025
"The ongoing violence is endangering our province," declared 76 priests of the Diocese of Bunia in a statement issued on August 20. Bunia is the capital of Ituri, a province in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, plagued by violence perpetrated by various armed groups and under a state of siege since May 2021 (together with the neighboring province of North Kivu. Despite the far-reaching powers granted to the military, acts of violence and murders against civilians continue to occur, affecting even Catholic communities. The bloody attack by ADF Islamists on the night of July 26-27 against the parish of Blessed Anuarite in Komanda, in which nearly 50 people were killed, and at least 40 young people were kidnapped.
Aleteia
St. Rose of Lima is known by her confirmation name
By Philip Kosloski, August 23, 2015
Name changes are common in the lives of the saints, as well as in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament. A name change would often mark a significant shift in a person's life, whereby they became a "new" person. St. Rose of Lima was born with the name Isabel Flores de Oliva. Her parents gave her this name in honor of her aunt, Isabel of Herrera. She quickly received the nickname of Rose, because family members thought they saw a rose on her face when she was a baby. St. Rose of Lima didn't always like that name and struggled with it until she was confirmed by the bishop with that same name. Afterwards, she cried in anguish to the Virgin Mary, as described in the 19th-century book The Lives of St. Rose of Lima, the Blessed Colomba of Rieti, and of St. Juliana Falconieri. Our Blessed Lady immediately consoled her, assuring her that the name of Rose was pleasing to her Son Jesus Christ, and a mark of her affection.
Our Sunday Visitor
So far, 41 Planned Parenthood closures for 2025
By Katie Yoder, August 22, 2025
More than 40 Planned Parenthood locations that either perform or refer for abortions are closing in 2025, according to Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included a provision that would prohibit Medicaid funding from going to Planned Parenthood for one year. “It’s important for the pro-life movement to see the impact of this — and also to see the momentum and how life is winning right now,” Kelsey Pritchard, spokesperson and political affairs communications director at SBA Pro-Life America. “And to keep going because there’s so much more left we have to do in the fight for life.” A new interactive map on SBA Pro-Life America’s website shows that Planned Parenthood — the nation’s largest abortion provider — has or will shutter the doors of 41 of its clinics across 16 states. “We’ve got 34 that have closed their doors, seven that have announced they will close their doors — and we know there are more to come with this law.”
CRUX
British bishops condemn plan for Israeli settlement in West Bank
By Charles Collins, August 23, 2025
A move to increase an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank by over 3,500 housing units has been called a “total disregard for Palestinian self-determination” by an English bishop. Ma’ale Adumim is an urban Israeli settlement with over 36,000 residents located in the West Bank and was named a city in 1991. Located 4 miles from Jerusalem, and if expanded, it would threaten the unity of the West Bank in an independent State of Palestine. On August 20, Israel’s Higher Planning Council gave final approval for 3,753 housing units for the settlement project in the occupied West Bank, including 3,401 in Ma’ale Adumim. “We condemn the decision of the Higher Planning Council that has given its final approval to thousands of new homes in the E1 area – a plan that Israel’s finance minister states will ‘bury the idea of a Palestinian state’ by splitting the West Bank in two.”
Related: ‘The Truth Lies in the Shadows’ - by Brad Goverman, The Times of Israel, Aug. 23, 2025. All the major actors lie: Bibi and his coalition of nut jobs, Hamas, Palestinians, the United Nations, and worst of all, the mainstream media.
The PILLAR
National Catholic Youth Conference prepares to host a papal Q&A
By Jack Figge, August 22, 2025
Leaders of the National Catholic Youth Conference made a long-shot request last month: Would Pope Leo XIV be willing to share a 10-minute, pre-recorded address with attendees at their November gathering? Ten days later, they received a completely unexpected response from the Vatican: Yes. The pope would do that. Kind of. The pope requested that the event be structured as a dialogue, so organizers do not want students to ask the pope their questions in rapid succession. “We are beyond excited and are humbled that Leo has selected to do this with the young people at NCYC,” Maureen Gross, NFCYM’s director of meetings and events, told The Pillar. “The fact that in his early days of leadership, this was a priority is good news for Catholics everywhere.” The National Catholic Youth Conference is an annual conference for high school students. This year, it takes place November 20-22 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
CatholicVote
Unauthorized immigrant population reached 14 million in 2023
By Hannah Hiester, August 22, 2025
The number of unauthorized immigrants in the US reached a record number of 14 million in 2023, according to an Aug. 21 Pew Research Center report. Pew noted that the all-time high for unauthorized immigration followed two consecutive years of record growth, increasing by 3.5 million in just two years. In 2023, unauthorized immigrants made up 27% of all US immigrants. Two years earlier, the same group accounted for 22% of all immigrants. The study broke unauthorized immigrants down into two categories: those who have some protections from deportation and those who do not. Eight million did not have protections, while six million did — up from 2.7 million in 2021. 12 million unauthorized immigrants in 2023 either entered the US illegally or overstayed a visa. Most unauthorized immigrants came from Mexico.
From CNA & Loopt & ChurchPop for 8/23/25
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — August 23, 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.
St. Pius X’s rebuke of ‘modernism’ rings true today, scholar says - Aug 23, 2025 - By Tyler Arnold - St. Pius X took charge of the Church in the aftermath of the Enlightenment era, which had spurred rationalist and liberal movements throughout Europe and the Americas.
Iraqi Christians face political challenges as election approaches - Aug 23, 2025 - By Georgena Habbaba - More than 30 Christian candidates are running for election this November in Iraq, competing for five seats reserved for them.
New coffee shop in Archdiocese of Denver aims to be ‘outpost of evangelization’ - Aug 23, 2025 - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - More Coffee, owned and run by St. Thomas More Catholic Parish in Centennial, Colorado, hopes to become a gathering place of evangelization for those within the parish boundaries
CatholicVote: Daily LOOP
Read daily news and political impact stories at the “LOOP”
Elections and politics matter. The LOOP gives you daily gems on the news that seek “to renew our country and culture.” CatholicVote’s advertised mission is “To inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of our faith in public life.”
POPE LEO TALKS WITH CARDINAL RAYMOND BURKE - Pope Leo received US Cardinal Raymond Burke for an audience in Rome yesterday. The Holy See Press Office has not stated what the two discussed. Cardinal Burke had already communicated with the new Pope on at least one occasion: In June, the cardinal shared that he expressed to the Holy Father his hope that the new pontificate would restore more access to the Traditional Latin Mass.
PIER GIERGIO FRASSATI CHAPEL BRINGS ADORATION TO DC - Just a short walk from Washington, DC’s Chinatown, Immaculate Conception Church has opened a new chapel dedicated to the patronage of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati with opportunities every day for adoration and exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
UNUSUAL SAINTS FOR MEN - Men need their band of brothers — both earthly ones and heavenly ones. Here are six saints, including some you've likely never heard of, who are good examples, intercessors, and companions for the modern man's journey in life.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - August 23, 2025
'The Very Necessary Minimum': The Forgotten 'Precepts of the Church' - What are the basic requirements of being a practicing Catholic? An important part of the answer lies in what are known as the Precepts of the Church.
5 Glorious Reasons Mary Should Reign as the Queen of Your Heart - “In trial or difficulty, I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.” - Saint Therese of Lisieux
Venezuelan Artists Build 33-Foot Balloon Murals Honoring Christ and the Blessed Mother - More than 20 Venezuelan artists combined their talents to create two balloon murals, standing 26 and 33 feet tall, in honor of Christ and Our Lady.
Nutshell reflections for 8/23/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection - AUDIO - August 23, 2025
Saturday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
First Things
Immigration policy is hurting rural Catholic Ministry
By Robert Aaron Wessman, August 21, 2025
Under recent changes during the Biden administration, it became nearly impossible for religious workers to move from a temporary visa to permanent residency. What once took months takes decades due to administrative backlog. Delays mean dedicated ministers—already embedded in rural towns and parishes—are forced to return home, disrupting their crucial work, and leaving others scrambling to fill the void. One of our members is packing his bags and leaving behind his ministry because he must wait for his visa to be granted. Challenges within the legal immigration system aren’t new, and they aren’t partisan. During the current Trump administration, Glenmary has seen a rise in visa denials for vetted candidates hoping to join or remain with our community. But the reality is that, for years, overall denials for those seeking nonimmigrant visas to enter the U.S. have, in general, become increasingly common.
The Catholic Thing
Get married, Americans, and defy the elites
By M.D. Aeschliman, August 23, 2025
Much of our knowledge is inevitably quantitative and additive. Sometimes a good book contains such necessary, valuable forms of human knowledge while also touching, and being graced by, such qualitative insight that it registers as human wisdom. University of Virginia sociologist and statistician Brad Wilcox’s ambitious Get Married: Why Americans Must Defy the Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization is full of exceptionally valuable, detailed information and analysis about contemporary social and economic phenomena in the USA and the West. It’s particularly insightful about catastrophically declining birth rates, marriage rates for different demographic groups, and surveys of several negative social indicators such as unemployment of men, drug abuse, loneliness, and “deaths by despair.”
Bishop Barron
Be willing to bear other people’s burdens
By Bishop Robert Barron, August 23, 2025
At the core of Jesus’s program is a willingness to bear other people’s burdens, to help them carry their loads. And this applies to the moral life as well. If we lay the burden of God’s law on people, we must be willing, at the same time, to help them bear it. Another classic problem with religious people, and especially religious leaders: They use the law and morality as a means of inflating the ego. The trouble is that this drug wears off rather quickly, and then we want more of it. We need a greater title, more respect, and more recognition. What is Jesus’s recommendation for those caught in this dilemma? To be great is to be a servant: lowly, simple, often forgotten. Eschew marks of respect; don’t seek them. Be satisfied with doing your work, whatever it is, on behalf of God’s kingdom.
Exaudi
When God sees evil, he does not take revenge
By Exaudi Staff, August 13, 2025
The text of the Holy Father’s Catechesis at the General Audience of August 13: Jesus reveals that one of the Twelve is about to betray him: “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me” (Mk 14:18). Strong words. Jesus does not utter them to condemn, but to show how love, when it is true, cannot do without the truth. The room on the upper floor suddenly fills with a painful silence, made up of questions, suspicions, vulnerability. The shadow of betrayal is cast over the closest relationships. He does not raise his voice, nor point his finger, nor utter the name of Judas. He speaks in such a way that each one can ask themselves the question. ‘Surely it is not I?’” (Mk 14:19) is among the sincerest that we can ask ourselves … of the disciple who discovers himself to be fragile. It is not the cry of the guilty, but the whisper of him who, while wanting to love, is aware of being able to do harm. It is in this awareness that the journey of salvation begins.
Image of Pecans by tseiu from Pixabay
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