Catholic Nutshell News: Thursday 10/9/25
Topics include: Catholic dating app is unique; Catholic leaders ‘ardent hope’ in Gaza; Leo XIV corrects Vatican finance issues; & DDF nixes German same-sex handbook
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Today's sources include Aleteia, CNA, National Catholic Register, The Pillar, CatholicVote, John Eldredge, and ChurchPOP. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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Catholic News Agency
Catholic app hopes to ‘relight the hope of Catholic dating’
By Francesca Pollio Fenton, October 9, 2025
Emily Wilson-Hussem, a Catholic speaker and digital content creator, realized that young Catholics are in search of holy marriages but need help finding one another. This led her and her husband, Daniël Hussem, to create a new Catholic dating app — SacredSpark. The new matchmaking app blends technology and tradition to foster meaningful online connections, ultimately creating lasting offline relationships. The Hussems decided to develop an app that was intentional and focused on the fact that each user was made in the image and likeness of God. Profile pictures are blurred. Photos become unblurred once both individuals match each other. So instead of simply swiping through images of a person, users can record audio messages introducing themselves, and other users can listen and determine if they believe there could be a connection.
Aleteia
Catholic leaders express ‘ardent hope’ and ‘rejoice’ in Gaza
By Kathleen N. Hattrup, October 9, 2025
Catholic leaders of the Holy Land were quick to respond with joy and hope as news broke that Israel and Hamas had reached an initial deal to end the conflict. A statement from the Latin Patriarchate noted it “ardently hopes that this accord will be fully and faithfully implemented, so that it may mark the beginning of the end of this terrible war.” The Patriarchate insisted on the “absolute urgency of immediate humanitarian relief and the unconditional entry of sufficient aid to Gaza’s suffering population.” It said that it would be praying that this “step may open a path of healing and reconciliation for both Palestinians and Israelis.” For his part, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa said we “must rejoice” and expressed his hopes for a new phase, a time to stop thinking about war and start thinking about rebuilding after war. “It is good news, and we are very happy. It is a first step, the first phase. Of course, there are many others, and surely there will be other obstacles. But now we have to rejoice.”
National Catholic Reporter
Leo XIV corrects some of Francis’ problematic financial decisions
By Nicole Winfield, October 7, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has begun correcting some of Pope Francis’ more questionable financial reforms and decisions, canceling a law Monday that had concentrated economic power in the Vatican bank. Leo abrogated the 2022 law that had decreed that management of the Holy See’s assets was the “exclusive responsibility” of the Institute of Religious Works, or IOR. The law was the clearest sign yet that Leo is starting to fix some of Francis’ more problematic decisions and is recalibrating the Vatican’s centers of power, after Francis tended to lean heavily on the advice of the IOR and its top manager. The 2022 law had taken many in the Vatican by surprise since it appeared to contradict the Holy See’s founding constitution. The Patrimony Office, APSA, is responsible for administering the Vatican’s real estate and financial holdings. The lack of qualified fundraisers and the absence of any Americans immediately on the commission raised questions about the group’s credibility. Americans are among the biggest donors to the Holy See, but also demand levels of transparency and accountability that the Vatican hasn’t always followed.
CatholicVote
Nigeria’s Anglican leader calls female archbishop devastating
By McKenna Snow, October 8, 2025
Anglican Archbishop Henry Ndukuba, Metropolitan of the Church of Nigeria, the leader of the Anglican Communion’s Church of Nigeria, spoke Oct. 6 on behalf of his ecclesial community, which is strongly against the Church of England electing a woman who supports same-sex “marriage” to be the next archbishop of Canterbury. According to news outlet WORLD, the Church of Nigeria has stated that it rejects Sarah Mullally’s leadership as the new Anglican archbishop of Canterbury. “It is a double jeopardy,” he continued. “First, in its insensitivity to the conviction of the majority of Anglicans who are unable to embrace female headship in the episcopate, and second, more disturbing that Bishop Sarah Mullally is a strong supporter of same-sex marriage as evidenced in her speech in 2023, after a vote to approve the blessings of homosexuals when she described the result as a ‘moment of hope for the Church.’”
Crux
Ex-priest accused of abusing 30 boys finally detained in Uruguay
By Eduardo Campos Lima, October 6, 2025
After almost two decades at large, Bolivia has requested the extradition of former priest Juan José Santana Trinidad, a Uruguayan national accused of having committed sex abuse against 30 minors between 2005 and 2007, when he was a missionary in Tapacarí in east-central Bolivia. Santana, who had been on the run for 18 years, was captured Sept. 26 in the house of his parents in the Uruguayan city of Salto by national police agents. He’s been kept in custody since then and must be sent to Bolivia when the extradition process is completed, within 60 days. The laicized priest was in charge of a boarding school in Tapacarí named Ángel Gelmí, where 70 boys aged 8 to 17 lived and studied. In 2007, a local nun discovered he was abusing a boy and denounced him. Other cases also emerged, with victims sharing reports with the authorities. Santana was 38 at the time of the scandal.
National Catholic Register
‘Dilexi Te’is Pope Leo XIV’s first major document
By Hannah Brockhaus/CNA, October 9, 2025
In the first major document of his pontificate—Dilexi Te (“I have loved you”)—released by the Vatican on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV writes that the poor are not only objects of charity, but evangelists who can prompt us to conversion through their example of weakness and reliance on God. “The elderly, for example, by their physical frailty, remind us of our own fragility, even as we attempt to conceal it behind our apparent prosperity and outward appearance. The poor ... remind us how uncertain and empty our seemingly safe and secure lives may be.” Leo quotes his predecessor throughout the document, which was first drafted during the previous pontificate and draws heavily on Pope Francis’ first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, on the joy of the Gospel. The document traces the Church’s perennial teaching on the poor, drawing on the Old and New Testaments, the practice of the early Christian community, the writings of Church Fathers and Doctors, the lives of the saints, the documents of the Second Vatican Council, and the magisterium of the popes since St. John XXIII.
The Pillar
No DDF approval on German same-sex blessings handbook
By Edgar Beltrán, October 8, 2025
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has denied that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) approved recent guidelines for blessings of same-sex couples issued by the German bishops’ conference. The conference president, Bishop Georg Bätzing, has claimed the controversial text, issued during the papal interregnum, had been created “transparently in consultation with this dicastery.” Cardinal Fernández said that “the DDF didn’t approve anything [of the irregular unions’ guidelines], and wrote a letter some time ago reminding [the German bishops] that [Fiducia supplicans (FS)] excluded any form of ritualization, just as the pope has said.” Bishop Bätzing claimed and insisted that the German bishops had “prepared these guidelines transparently with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and in consultation with the Dicastery.” But according to Fernandez, the DDF cannot approve any form of ritualization of these blessings, because any form of ritualization is expressly excluded in FS.”
UCA News
Cambodia detains South Asians after religious slur sparks riots
By UCA News reporter, October 8, 2025
Hundreds of foreign compound workers have been detained by Cambodian police after a religious slur by a Chinese boss sparked a race riot in the southern city of Sihanoukville. Offices were trashed, reports and online videos showed, as violence spread onto the streets. Police declined to confirm whether the Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Nepalese were working in scam compounds but said 290 people had been rounded up and were being transported to Phnom Penh on Oct. 8 after being charged with working illegally in the country. Sihanoukville police chief Tey Visal told journalists that workers had protested against a Chinese national who forbade a religious ceremony and apparently insulted their religion late on Oct. 4. Riots erupted and were brought under control early Oct. 5 morning. Initially, erroneous reports blamed the riots on more than a thousand Indians and Indonesians. The charged folks were expected to be deported as soon as possible.
CatholicVote, CNA & ChurchPOP for 10/9/25
CatholicVote - The Loop
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POTENTIAL DC BOMBER TARGETED CATHOLICS, SCOTUS JUSTICES - The New Jersey man arrested Oct. 5 on the steps of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C., had hundreds of explosives and a manifesto suggesting he was targeting Catholics and Supreme Court Justices, according to a police affidavit reported by multiple outlets.
WOULD-BE KAVANAUGH ASSASSIN SAYS HE’S ‘TRANS,’ MEDIA PLAY ALONG - A Wall Street Journal commentary published Oct. 6 criticized what it called a media “charade” surrounding the would-be assassin of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, pointing out that journalists and court officials falsely portrayed the assailant as a “transgender” woman.
YOUNGER ADULT MEN LEADING IN CHURCH ATTENDANCE - In a reversal of a decades-long trend, the numbers of churchgoing Millennials and Gen Zers are outpacing those of older adults, according to the latest data. What’s more, men are now more likely than women to attend church, another trend reversal.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — October 9, 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.
Pope Leo XIV to supporters of migrants in U.S.: ‘You stand with me, and I stand with you’ - Oct 8, 2025 - By Madalaine Elhabbal - Pope Leo XIV became “visibly emotional” upon receiving messages on Oct. 8 from immigrants fearing deportation in the United States.
Catholic bishops call on EU to appoint special envoy for religious freedom - Oct 8, 2025 - By Nicolás de Cárdenas - The Commission of Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union reiterated its call for the bloc to reinstate the position of the special envoy for religious freedom.
Irish Loreto sister receives honorary doctorate for work with girls in South Sudan crisis - Oct 8, 2025 - By Agnes Aineah - St. Patrick’s Pontifical University has conferred an honorary doctorate to Sister Orla Treacy, whose work in South Sudan has transformed the lives of hundreds of girls in the war-torn East African nation.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - October 9, 2025
We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.
Is Pope Leo ‘Woke’ for ‘Blessing a Block of Ice’? Catholic Priest Sets the Record Straight - Father Leo explained that “everything that the Holy Father does has nothing to do with politics,” and he “is doing what he’s supposed to do: making sure that we as stewards of God’s creation.”
Battling Laziness? 7 Ways to Overcome It, According to Catholic Nuns - Laziness doesn’t just affect our daily responsibilities—it can also become a serious obstacle in our spiritual lives. At its root, laziness often hides acedia—an inner sadness that prevents us from enjoying God’s gifts or setting our hearts fully on Him.
‘Every Hail Mary Is a Blow Against Evil’: The Supernatural Power of Praying the Rosary Daily - Colombian priest Father Melson Correa reminded Catholics that the Holy Rosary is far more than a decoration — it’s a powerful spiritual weapon against evil.
Nutshell reflections for 10/9/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection - AUDIO - October 9, 2025
Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Church Life Journal
‘Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity’
By Abigail Favale, October 9, 2023
The Church’s understanding of men and women is built upon a foundational twofold principle: the sexes are characterized by both equal dignity and meaningful difference. Here is how the Catechism describes this: “Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman” (§369). The Catechism is clear that “man and woman are both with one and the same dignity ‘in the image of God’” (§369); “they are equal as persons . . . and complementary as masculine and feminine” (§372). This language of “complement” or “complementarity” has come to serve as a helpful shorthand for the Church’s understanding—it is a word that seeks to capture both strands of the twofold principle: equality and difference.
Imaginative Conservative
Cicero: We are connected across time and space
By Bradley J. Birzer, October 8, 2025
Socrates and Cicero have radically different views of citizenship, each of which pertains to our debates of the current day. For Socrates, one must be a citizen of a polis. For him, that was specifically Athens. For Cicero, however, one must be a citizen of the universe, a citizen of the “cosmopolis.” Citizenship, of course, was a central theme of the ancient world. Perhaps the best overall discussion comes with St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans. In that letter, St. Paul considers our loyalty to the natural law, to Hebraic law, to the body of Christ, and, perhaps most famously for modern Protestants, to secular governments (Romans 13). Not surprisingly, St. Paul offers a brilliant, if complicated and nuanced, discussion of the matter. Defenders of the liberal arts have to choose between Socrates’ vision and Cicero’s vision—citizens of a particular soil and a particular place, or connected across time and space to all good men and God?
Crisis Magazine
James Talarico: A new secular preacher for the left
By John Mac Ghlionn, October 9, 2025
On the surface, James Talarico, a young Texas lawmaker with a preacher’s cadence and a teacher’s patience, seems to offer what Democrats lack: youth, charisma, and the rare courage to speak of God in public. That alone explains why so many, desperate for direction, rush to his rallies and pour money into his campaign. But charisma can cover cracks. And in Talarico’s case, it conceals a dangerous contradiction. He speaks the language of the Bible, but he wields it in service of ideas that run against the very faith he professes. His politics are progressive, his theology a tool. A party that prides itself on rejecting religion cannot long tolerate a man who constantly invokes it. Already, some of his own supporters squirm at his repeated references to God. Talarico cloaks himself in Christian values, but not in defense of biblical truths. Instead, he uses faith to bless policies that undermine the very foundations of Christian teaching—on family, on life, on gender.
Wild at Heart
The clue as to who we really are
By John Eldredge, October 9, 2025
We all share the same dilemma — we long for life and we’re not sure where to find it. We wonder if we ever do find it, can we make it last? The longing for life within us seems incongruent with the life we find around us. What is available seems at times close to what we want, but never quite a fit. Our days come to us as a riddle, and the answers aren’t handed out with our birth certificates. We must journey to find the life we prize. And the guide we have been given is the desire set deep within, the desire we often overlook or mistake for something else or even choose to ignore. The greatest human tragedy is simply to give up the search. There is nothing of greater importance than the life of our deep heart. To lose heart is to lose everything. The clue as to who we really are and why we are here comes to us through our heart’s desire.
Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay
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