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Zeale News
Lindsay Clancy holdout juror thanks God for Catholic faith
By Elise Winland, September 30, 2026
Michael Desronvil, who identified himself as the sole holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder case, thanked God for his Catholic faith and urged the public to focus on Clancy’s three slain children in a Sept. 28 video statement, a day before Clancy returned to court as her defense sought to prevent a retrial. In the roughly 60-second clip aired on Fox News’ “Hannity,” Desronvil introduced himself as “the lone juror” and immediately redirected attention away from himself. “I know the whole focus has been on me, but we want to reel everything back and put the focus on the three angels,” he said, adding, “the ones that can’t speak for themselves, the ones who can’t defend themselves, and the ones that can’t fight the battles. And those are Cora, Dawson, and Callan … I want to thank God for my Catholic faith,” Desronvil said. “I want to thank God for blessing me with the ability to love my daughter.”
Our Sunday Visitor
Multistate lawsuit presents challenge to abortion ‘shield laws’
By Kate Scanlon, September 30, 2026
The attorneys general of Louisiana, Alabama and Arkansas Sept. 30 announced a lawsuit challenging the abortion “shield laws” of New York, California and Massachusetts. The Republican-led states asked the Supreme Court to take up their challenge to the so-called “shield laws” passed by the Democratic-led states in an effort to prevent the prosecution of abortion providers within those states by states with bans or other restrictions on abortion. The attorneys general behind the lawsuit argued that the shield laws allow abortion providers to violate their own states’ abortion restrictions by protecting those who mail abortion-inducing drugs from states that permit them to states that restrict them. Such laws also “commonly allow anonymous or nearly anonymous mailing of abortion drugs,” the suit said.
Religion News Service
A surprising number of Americans use AI for spiritual reasons
By Jason DeRose, September 28, 2026
Artificial intelligence is becoming a tool not only for work and research but also for exploring questions of faith and spirituality, according to a new NPR/Ipsos poll. Ipsos polled 1,011 U.S. adults from Aug. 7 through Aug. 9 of this year. Overall, 61% of respondents said they have used an artificial intelligence tool, such as Google Gemini, ChatGPT, or Claude, for any purpose. The poll found that 11% of AI users have sought spiritual guidance from artificial intelligence, while 13% have used the technology to generate prayers, and 15% say they have used it to study Scripture. Mallory Newall, a senior vice president at Ipsos who leads polling projects, said using AI out of curiosity and to look up new information is common, but relying on AI for spiritual counsel remains rarer. Nearly 7 in 10 poll respondents who use AI said they would never seek religious or spiritual guidance from AI.
National Catholic Register
Is smoking making a comeback among Gen Z Catholics?
By Gigi Duncan, Jonah McKeownNe, September 30, 2026
An apparent trend is taking place. Gen Z Catholics are lighting up. A Catholic fascination with tobacco isn’t new. G.K. Chesterton with his ever-present cigar, Tolkien’s hobbits puffing away in the Shire, and images of St. Pier Giorgio Frassati standing regally on a mountain peak with a pipe clutched in his mouth have helped give tobacco a particular place in many Catholics’ imaginations. Pipes and cigars, in particular, tend to evoke an older world of leather-bound books, deep spiritual conversation and unhurried fellowship. That aesthetic has found new life in recent years through Catholic media personalities such as Michael Knowles, Matt Fradd, Jimmy Akin and Alan Harrellson, who have made pipes and cigars part of their public persona. The apparently renewed fascination among many young Catholics with the cigarette — still universally acknowledged as a major health hazard and a cultural taboo — is harder to explain.
Aleteia
Euthanasia of toddler is not ‘merciful’, says Dutch cardinal
By Theresa Civantos Barber, September 30, 2025
Just as more places around the world are legalizing “medical aid in dying” — both euthanasia and assisted suicide — a Dutch cardinal spoke out against a recent “assisted dying” case that took the life of a nearly two-year-old child. Cardinal Wim Eijk, chair of the Dutch bishops’ conference, told Crux Now in an interview that Western cultures misunderstand and misuse mercy. Cardinal Eijk, who was a physician before he entered religious life and wrote his medical doctoral thesis on Dutch euthanasia practices and ethics, challenged the idea that ending a child’s life can be an act of mercy. He said: “However, is it merciful to violate the fundamental dignity of the human person by ending their life? What is truly merciful is providing adequate care, in this case in the form of palliative care. If standard forms of palliative care prove insufficient to reduce suffering to a tolerable level, palliative sedation may offer a solution.”
Vatican News
The importance of silence in a world marked by speed
By Johan Pacheco, September 22, 2026
“Faith and calling can also guide this meeting of ours,” Pope Leo XIV said as he met with the International Commission of Dominican Contemplative Nuns at the Vatican on the morning of September 30. He emphasized, “that the contemplative vocation, in the Dominican spirit and in the Church as a whole, does not stand on the margins of the mission, but is its beating heart.” The Pope recalled contributions from Dominican spirituality that guide the contemplative religious vocation, such as the writings of Jordan of Saxony, who described “the nuns of the first female communities, devoting themselves primarily to contemplative prayer and study, accompanying the preaching of the brothers through penance and participating in the same charism.” He also referred to Saint Thomas Aquinas, who “takes up Saint Dominic’s insight that every word of proclamation, if it is to be true, must have its origin in silence, listening, prayer, and a profound relationship with God.”
Zenit
Amending Church Canon so that laypeople can participate
By ZENIT Staff, September 30, 2026
The Canonical Commission — established in service of the Synod, in agreement with the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, in accordance with the provisions set forth during the Audience granted by Pope Francis on 18 December 2023 — has worked with the results of the 2021-2024 synodal process, particularly the Final Document approved on 26 October 2024, as well as the various contributions received from experts throughout the world. It envisages the need for a comprehensive revision of both Codes of Canon Law – the Latin and the Eastern. The Commission sought to identify how the theological and ecclesiological insights emerging from the synodal process may be translated into canonical norms, distinguishing three timeframes. In the short term, it proposes specific amendments to current legislation that can immediately support ecclesial life in its concrete unfolding; these constitute the subject of the present Report.
EWTN News
Bishop Barron: Catholicism is deeply aligned with American ideals
By Ishmael Adibuah, September 30, 2026
Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, argued that Catholic theology is deeply compatible with the founding of the United States as it marks its 250th anniversary. The evangelist and founder of Word on Fire Ministries delivered the keynote address at the “America at 250” event at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in Rome on Sept. 30. “I speak to you today as both a proud American and a proud bishop of the Catholic Church,” Barron said. “I stand with those who see no essential or fundamental tension between these two identities. To be sure, Catholicism and America have had a somewhat rocky relationship over the past two and a half centuries, and their rapport has been variously interpreted.” “You have this extraordinary confluence of circumstances where you have an American pope, and you have a president and an administration filled with many Catholics,” U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch said. “The American experiment itself has a lot of common ground with the Churchʼs teaching and social doctrine.”
Keep informed - 9/24/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from OSV, EWTN News, & ChurchPOP
OSV News
OSV’s seasoned reporters - October 1, 2026
OSV News — information service and evangelization partner that enables dioceses to connect and boost engagement with the faithful by sharing timely, trustworthy, and accurate content about what is happening in the Church and the world.
Virginia bishop urges faithful to ‘pray, fast and vote no’ on abortion, same-sex marriage amendments - Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, is urging the faithful to pray, fast and vote “no” on enshrining abortion and same-sex marriage in that state. This election’s ballot includes two proposed constitutional amendments at odds with Catholic teaching on the sanctity of human life and the nature of marriage.
New nuncio appeals for unity, cautions German bishops against diverging from Rome - The new apostolic nuncio to Germany, Archbishop Hubertus van Megen, warned the country’s bishops against charting a separate course for the local Church, reminding them that Catholic unity relies on fidelity to the papacy and the Eucharist.
Supreme Court temporarily permits third-country deportations as challenge proceeds - The U.S. Supreme Court temporarily allowed the Trump administration to carry out third-country deportations — removals to a country where a person who had migrated to the United States has no ties — while a challenge to that policy continues.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — October 1, 2026
EWTN provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.
European data rules may allow erasure of baptismal records, EU court adviser says - By Daniel Payne - Catholic leadership has expressed strong concerns over the issue. The Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Union said in September that baptismal records are not merely a “list of members” of the Church but rather serve as a “record of historical events.”
As Respect Life Month begins, Catholic leaders share advice on how to talk about abortion - By Kate Quiñones - It can be hard to talk about, as emotions run high on both sides of the debate. As chemical abortion pills become increasingly more accessible to women and girls across the U.S., it raises the question: How do we discuss abortion as Catholics in a charitable and truthful way?
Being a businessman is a vocation and a path to holiness, Catholic expert says - By David Ramos - In the business vocation, “God invites the entrepreneur to assist in his creation, to improve it, and to make it more habitable for humanity,” noted Luis Fernando Calvo.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - October 1, 2026
“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”
The Catholic Navy SEAL Who Sacrificed His Life on the Feast of Saint Michael: His Courageous True Story - In one sudden and terrible moment, without time to deliberate, Michael Monsoor flew out of his chair so hard it crashed against the far side of the rooftop and dove upon the fragment grenade, taking its full force into his body and saving the lives of the men with him.
From Altar Boy to ‘The Incredible Hulk’: Lou Ferrigno Meets Pope Leo XIV and Opens Up About His Catholic Faith - Even The Incredible Hulk knows there is nothing stronger than faith! Before becoming a fitness legend and starring in sword-and-sandal classics like Hercules and Sinbad, Ferrigno grew up serving at the altar as a young Catholic boy.
The Feast of the Archangels: 3 Heavenly Protectors and Prayers to Invoke Them - The Church celebrated the feast of the Archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel on Sept. 29. “The Sacred Scriptures have revealed the proper names of only three angels, all of whom belong to the Choir of the Archangels.”
October 1, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church
Today’s Catholic commentary:
National Catholic Register
30 million Kurds: An Inconvenient Minority
By Alberto M. Fernandez, September 29, 2026
Anyone with eyes to see knows that there is injustice in the world. Regardless of the constant drumbeat over Gaza these last three years, the largest and worst — and the most ignored — humanitarian crisis in the world today was and remains Sudan. And despite the ink the Palestinian cause gets, in English and other languages, few know that the largest group of people in the Middle East that seeks its long-denied state and self-determination are the 30 million Kurds, a people whose homelands are carved up between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Some minorities are convenient or useful; others are ones many in the world seem to wish away. The West's passions and interests over such things wax and wane. Once, “Free Tibet” was a thing. Twenty years ago — I saw it with my own eyes — hundreds of thousands rallied on the Mall in Washington, D.C., to “save Darfur.” Today Darfur is still “unsaved,” and nobody cares.
Zeale
Dueling polls paint different pictures of Texas Senate race
By David Uebbing, September 30, 2026
A new internal poll released by Attorney General Ken Paxton’s U.S. Senate campaign shows the Texas Republican leading Democratic state Rep. James Talarico 48% to 45% among likely voters, the campaign announced this week, even as independent polls continue to show a closer race or a Talarico advantage. “Texans are learning more about James Talarico’s radical record every day, and undecided voters continue to break toward General Paxton,” said Nick Maddux, Paxton’s senior campaign advisor. The RealClearPolitics average of nine public polls shows Talarico leading by 2.9 percentage points, 47.6% to 44.7%, as of this week, with a Big Data Poll finding that around 12% of likely voters remain undecided. Kelsey Reinhardt, president and CEO of CatholicVote, said politicians who previously supported minors’ gender transition policies should be pressed to explain precisely which positions they have changed and what legislation they would now support, instead of being permitted “simply to walk away” by declaring “that they ‘missed the mark.’”
Catholic Culture
The first requirement of Church renewal in our time
By Dr. Jeff Mirus, September 29, 2026
The Catholic Church has often been called “the Church of here comes everybody”. The reason is simple: You typically do not find the Church representative of just one ethnic group, nationality, or social class. Membership in the Catholic Church is rarely based on encouraging people “just like us” to join, and discouraging those who are “different”. But what about distinguishing between those who accept the Church’s teachings and those who do not? In the West, at least, we inhabit a Church which is very reluctant to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Indeed, St. Paul was adamant that her members must never make anyone feel uncomfortable based on whether they are male or female, slave or free, rich or poor, Jew or Greek: For we “are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal 3:28). But in another letter, Paul expressed a very different view of spiritual and moral differentiators: “For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Drive out the wicked person from among you.” [1 Cor 5]
Wild at Heart
All will be completely restored, including your personality
By John Eldredge, October 1, 2026
Mozart did start writing symphonies as a child, and Picasso could draw before he could talk. But most human beings are profoundly thwarted in their “calling” here because of wounding, assault, envy, or circumstances that would never let them fly. For most human beings on this planet, work ranges from disappointing to oppressive. What does the kingdom offer those men who work the Indonesian sulfur mines or the tens of millions of modern slaves upon the earth? This is not what God intended. How many Mozarts are there right now, hidden in slums and huts across the globe? All your creativity and gifting will be restored and then some when you are restored. All of that latent potency inside of you—so damaged here, marred, frustrated, never given the opportunity to grow and develop and express itself—all of it completely restored, including your personality.
Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay
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