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National Catholic Register
Mother Teresa and Fulton Sheen were friends and likely cohorts
By Matthew McDonald, September 5, 2026
When Mother Teresa visited Archbishop Fulton Sheen after his painful prostate surgery in 1977, a few years before he died, they were hardly strangers. Yet their meetings, over the course of two decades, aren’t well-documented or well-known because they were almost always in private — the type that turn up in endnotes of books published long after the fact. Exactly where they first met is a little murky. One source says 1960, in New York. Another puts it around the mid-1960s, in Rome. Either way, then-Bishop Sheen, in his mid- or late 60s, was a national celebrity in the U.S. because of his former television show and was well known internationally for his books on following Christ. Mother Teresa, in her early or mid-50s, led a growing-but-not-yet-world-famous religious order of sisters ministering to what she called “the poorest of the poor” in India. Initially, at least, Sheen was potentially the source of funds Mother Teresa needed to begin her ministry.
Related: 10 years a saint: The truth about Mother Teresa’s care for the dying, EWTN News, Daniel Payne, September 4, 2026
EWTN News
Vatican hosts ‘courses’ in Rome for new bishops in the church
By Victoria Cardiel, September 3, 2026
The Vatican is hosting its annual formation course for newly appointed bishops from Sept. 2-10, bringing together 147 prelates from five continents to strengthen ecclesial communion and provide practical tools for episcopal ministry. The program has been a fixture of the Church calendar since 2000, when St. John Paul II launched it. Described by Vatican media as a condensed “master’s program” for new bishops, it is designed to foster the exchange of experiences among pastors from widely differing cultural, social, and ecclesial contexts while offering practical guidance for governing local churches. This year’s participants come from countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, and Latin America, including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Ghana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Myanmar, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Central African Republic, Senegal, the Seychelles, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Vietnam, Zimbabwe, Kyrgyzstan, and Thailand.
Aleteia
Favorite Catholic magazines now in print
By Theresa Civantos Barber, September 5, 2026
Dappled Things - Dappled Things is the hub of the new renaissance in Catholic art and literature, featuring essays, interviews, reviews, and more.
The Lamp - Calling itself “a Catholic journal of literature, science, the fine arts, etc,” The Lamp is a lay-edited Catholic magazine.
Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture - The University of St. Thomas Center for Catholic Studies has published Logos for more than 25 years
St. Austin Review - Affiliated with the Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, the Review is focused on literary essays.
Gilbert! - The Society of Gilbert Keith Chesterton publishes Gilbert!
Adoremus - Adoremus “is to honor and to foster a greater understanding of the rich liturgical traditions of the Catholic Church.”
See more publications here.
The Pillar
EU bishops await ruling on erasing baptismal registrations
By Luke Coppen, September 4, 2026
An upcoming ruling by the European Union’s top court on whether a Belgian diocese must erase baptismal register data on request could significantly affect the Church’s autonomy — the contention of a position paper issued Sept. 4 by the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, or COMECE. The paper concerns a dispute between the Diocese of Ghent and Belgium’s Data Protection Authority over whether the diocese must comply with an unnamed individual’s request to delete their baptismal register entry. “The baptismal register is the fundamental basis for establishing the juridical status of the person in the internal legal order of the Church,” said the paper, prepared at the request of COMECE’s member bishops’ conferences and dated Sept. 2. “Requiring the Catholic Church to erase the data contained in it, thereby intervening directly in its organization, would constitute a serious infringement upon Church autonomy and institutional freedom of religion.”
OSV News
The Nepal disaster reveals lack of climate change preparedness
By Stephan Uttom Rozario, September 4, 2026
On Aug. 26, the mountain nation of Nepal faced a devastating flash flood along its border with China. According to the National Disaster Risk Management Authority of the South Asian country, around 4,500 people are still missing, and approximately 12,000 have been rescued. The tragedy grimly confirmed warnings from earlier this year about the effects of climate change on nearby glaciers — the seismic event was caused by a 5.2 magnitude glacial collapse. Sister Cecilia Durga Shrestha, of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, stressed that for people who have contributed “very little” to the climate crisis in the world to suffer “disproportionately” from its consequences is “profound injustice.” “Beyond these figures, thousands of families have lost their homes, livelihoods, land, property, and, most painfully, their loved ones,” she said. “The full extent of the impact is still being assessed.”
Zeale
AI-generated child porn protected by First Amendment
By David Uebbing, September 5, 2026
A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a single charge against a Wisconsin man accused of using artificial intelligence to generate child sexual abuse material, ruling that private, in-home possession of such images is protected by the First Amendment when no real-life child is depicted. Three other charges against him remain pending. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling Aug. 25 in the case of Steven Anderegg, arrested in 2024 after Meta reported he had sent AI-generated images to a minor's Instagram account. Prosecutors say Anderegg used the program Stable Diffusion to create hundreds of sexually explicit images of children and was separately charged with producing, distributing and transferring the material to a boy under 16. A district court had already dismissed the possession count on constitutional grounds, and the government appealed that single dismissal.
Related: AI Child Porn and the Libertarian Lie, First Things, Jonathon Van Maren September 3, 2026.
Zenit
Pope Leo XIV: Why was there a liturgical reform in the Church?
By Zenit Staff, August 26, 2026
On August 26, Pope Leo XIV presided over the general audience inside the Vatican Basilica and explained the purpose of Vatican II’s liturgical changes. “The Church … earnestly desires that Christ’s faithful, when present at this mystery of faith, should not be there as strangers or silent spectators; on the contrary, through a good understanding of the rites and prayers they should take part in the sacred action conscious of what they are doing, with devotion and full collaboration.” He then added, “Since the gestures, the words of the sacred liturgy are critical to realizing this experience, the participation of the faithful cannot be passive.” Further, he said, “The primary source of that divine exchange in which the life of God is communicated to us. From this conviction arose the need to make the richness of the biblical texts and prayers more accessible to all the faithful, and to streamline the order of the celebration compared with … the liturgical books then in use.”
The Angelus
God chose these two people to receive the stigmata, but why?
By Heather King, September 4, 2026
Catholicism is nothing if not democratic. We might think of the stigmata, for example, as reserved for spiritual giants like St. Francis of Assisi or St. Padre Pio. The fact is, we never know who the good Lord will choose. Consider Servant of God Rhoda Wise (1888-1948), a Catholic laywoman, wife, and mother from Canton, Ohio. Our Lord and St. Thérèse appeared to Wise more than 20 times. They blessed religious articles, dictated messages, and assured her that she would save many souls. From 1942 to 1945, she suffered the stigmata every First Friday from noon to 3 p.m., bleeding from wounds in her hands, feet, side, and forehead. Servant of God Irving “Francis” C. Houle (1925-2009), another “guy next door,” received the stigmata on Good Friday 1993, and suffered the Passion between midnight and 3 a.m. every night thereafter until the day he died. Houle was born in Wilson, a town in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, to a large and deeply Catholic family. He died at Marquette General Hospital, not far from the place where he was born: unassuming, unheralded, a sign of God’s strange and unexpected mercy.
Keep informed - 9/5/26 matters for Catholics:
Snippets: EWTN News, aciafrica, & Word on Fire
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — September 5, 2026
EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, with updates on the Holy Father's words and the Holy See.
Accused killer of Kansas priest declared not competent at murder trial - By Daniel Payne - Gary Hermesch was declared incompetent to stand trial in Nemaha County Court on Sept. 3. Hermesch had been charged with first-degree murder in the April 3, 2025 shooting death of Father Arul Carasala in the small city of Seneca.
Guinean youth heading to West African Youth Day encouraged to be missionaries - By Jude Atemanke - Archbishop François Sylla of Guinea’s Catholic Archdiocese of Conakry has urged 155 young Catholics from the country sent to represent their peers at the first West African Youth Day in Ghana to embrace the gathering as a missionary experience rather than a tourist trip.
U.S. bishops offer pre-midterms guidance on faithful citizenship - By Tyler Arnold - The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published “Outlines for Clergy Formation on Faithful Citizenship” for dioceses, outlining how they can train priests to better help members of their congregations be “faithful citizens.” It comes about two months before the midterm elections, which will decide control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It does not instruct people how to vote, but it does note principles of Catholic teaching to consider when making that decision.
aciafrica
aciafrica’s top headlines — September 5, 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 Holy Father's words and the Holy See's activities.
“The ocean became their grave”: Catholic Priest Mourns Suspected African Migrants Feared Dead off Canary Islands - More than 80 people who left The Gambia are feared to have died in the boat, which was adrift off Spain’s Canary Islands for 27 days — including women and an infant. They are feared to have died from hunger, dehydration, and sickness after drinking seawater.
Ghana’s Kumasi Catholic Archdiocese Welcomes Historic Ghanaian Parish in Texas, U.S. - The Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi in Ghana has welcomed the establishment of a Ghanaian parish in Texas, United States, under the patronage of Ghanaian martyr and Saint Matthew Ayariga, describing the development as a “historic milestone.”
Today, September 5, We Celebrate St. Teresa of Kolkata - The Church celebrates on September 5 the feast of Mother Teresa, a universal symbol of God's merciful and preferential love for the poor and forgotten. She joined the Sisters of Loretto at age 17 and was sent to Calcutta, where she taught at a high school. She contracted Tuberculosis and was sent to rest in Darjeeling. On the train to Darjeeling, she received her calling.
Word on Fire
Fresh insights from the Word on Fire Institute - September 5, 2026
Word on Fire reaches millions every year by effectively sharing the Gospel via podcasts, videos, books, articles, Scripture studies, and Gospel meditations.
What Is All This Exorcism Content For? - Johanna Duncan - Previous generations had the myths and horror movies; we have the exorcists themselves retelling their experiences. There’s nothing new about exorcists and their ministries, but in the last few years, the priests who spend their lives driving out demons went from being the Church’s most guarded (even mysterious) ministers to one of its most bookable guests, like Fr. Carlos Martins, who built an entire hit podcast around his own case notes.
James Joyce, a Priest of the Eternal Imagination - Matthew Malone - James Joyce is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most enigmatic writers of the twentieth century. Through groundbreaking works, such as Ulysses (1922) and Finnegans Wake (1939), Joyce irreversibly transformed literature by pioneering techniques using stream of consciousness, linguistic experimentation, and complex narrative structures. He arguably created some of the most elegant and beautiful prose in human history.
Higher Education Manufactured the Perfect DEI Martyr - Dr. Matthew Petrusek - The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) craze has produced massive casualties. Cambridge professor Jason Arday is the latest. Arday took his life amid revelations of a long history of academic plagiarism and biographical fabrication. His death is tragic, especially since he leaves behind a wife and children. But the scandal that preceded it was entirely avoidable.
September 5, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Saturday of the Twenty-second Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
National Catholic Register
Mel Gibson on ‘The Passion’ re-release & ‘Resurrection’ plans
By Regis Martin, September 5, 2026
More than 20 years after shattering box-office expectations and redefining faith-based cinema, Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ is returning to theaters nationwide, running from Sept. 10 through Sept. 17. It serves as the runway for Gibson’s long-anticipated, two-part epic follow-up: The Resurrection of the Christ. “I just wanted to make it as real as possible for people to enter into that journey, which is pretty grueling,” Gibson shared. “Previous depictions of it had been pretty much sanitized, and they made it look easy, and it wasn’t. So I wanted to emphasize that this was not easy. In fact, he [Jim Caviezel] didn’t want to do it.” Despite intense pre-release skepticism and fears that its graphic intensity would incite division, the film went on to gross more than $610 million worldwide. “There was a hunger for it, and they went to see it in droves … I think others realized that there was a place where they could share their visions. And then there was zeal amongst faith-based people and filmmakers to explore it further.”
First Things
Malta’s answer to the abortion lobby
By Jonathon Van Maren, July 20, 2026
For almost a decade, abortion activists have had the small Mediterranean country of Malta in their crosshairs. Malta is the European Union’s last pro-life haven; abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at immediate risk. Yet, contra the claims of abortion activists and activist NGOs, Malta has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world; not one woman died during or after childbirth from 2012 to 2023. Malta’s much-condemned pro-life regime proves that nations can protect both women and unborn children. This has presented abortion activists with a conundrum. In 2018, their campaign to legalize abortion ramped up. In 2022, a pregnant American tourist named Andrea Prudente requested an abortion after suffering ruptured membranes. She was refused and flew to Spain instead. The case made international news, with outlets from the New York Times to the BBC claiming her life was at risk.
The Imaginative Conservative
Christian wisdom & Henri De Lubac
By Daniel J. Sundahl|, September 4, 2026
Henri De Lubac’s “ressourcement” signified a return to the foundation, to the sources—a spiritual and intellectual return to a communion with Christianity at its most vital moments, which proposed to nourish, invigorate, and rejuvenate 20th-century Christianity. Whether that was modernism in disguise became a point of contention, and even fierce controversy. In Peter Casarella’s introduction to Henri De Lubac’s Scripture in the Tradition: “The French Jesuit believed that modern exegesis had begun to lose sight of fundamental questions about existence itself. The pursuit of specialized disciplines, while legitimate as one aspect of scriptural interpretation, had come to an inquiry into understanding reality as a whole. ‘De Lubac’s research into the doctrine of the senses of Scripture,’ writes Hans Urs von Balthasar, is not simply curiosity of the history of theology’ but ‘an instrument permitting the discovery of the profound interconnections within the history of salvation.’”
The Catholic Thing
The Church in dialogue: What approach? And with whom?
By Fr. Raymond J. de Souza, September 1, 2026
Let us accept for the moment the notion that it is good that the Church sets itself the goal of entering into a dialogue with this generation. But a dialogue with whom? And what language would be intelligible to them? “The Church does not have merely one dialogue partner, but a host of them, each with its own presuppositions and its own “language.” To be effective, the approach they must take will differ depending on the group they are addressing. When the Church tries to show that the tenets of the faith are as reasonable as any philosophy, there will be “Bible Christians” who accuse the Church of subjecting the Scriptures to human reason and creating an “unbiblical theology.” When the Church works to show how her positions are well supported Biblically, the Enlightenment group accuses her of believing in the authority of an outdated, archaic text. So the situation is even more complicated than learning to speak multiple languages. Speaking “intelligibly” to one group can alienate the others.
Image of Coconut by Celio Nicoli from Pixabay
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