Catholic Nutshell News: Thursday 3/26/26
Topics include: ‘Anglican heritage’ is now Catholic; US workers struggling, pessimistic; Pope calls for ‘generous inclusion’ of TLM; & 1/4th of all AM/FM radio are religious
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Today's sources include Aleteia, EWTN News, 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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OSV News
Vatican affirms permanent place of ‘Anglican heritage’
By Peter Jesserer Smith, March 26, 2026
The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has released a new document describing the “Anglican heritage” of the Catholic Church’s personal ordinariates as a permanent reality that makes a “distinctive contribution” to the Church’s evangelizing mission. The Vatican document stressed that the Anglican patrimony of the ordinariates [The Anglican Catholic Church (ACC)] founded under Pope Benedict XVI’s 2009 apostolic constitution “Anglicanorum Coetibus” — ordinariates informally known as “the Anglican Ordinariate” — is “a living reality” that “looks to the future in the transmission of the faith to future generations.” “In the case of the Ordinariate, the Catholic faith is inculturated among people who experienced the Gospel in the context of the Anglican Communion,” the prefect preached, noting how elements of the rich Anglican tradition “are now lived out in the fullness of Catholic communion.”
Related: The ACC has a presence on six continents and nearly two dozen countries, The ACC website
CatholicVote
Gallup finds US workers struggling, pessimistic about job market
By Hannah Hiester, March 25, 2026
U.S. employees are more likely to say they are struggling in their lives rather than thriving, and confidence in the job market — especially among college-educated workers and young people — has fallen to new lows, according to a recent Gallup report. In 2025, nearly half of U.S. workers (49%) reported struggling in their lives, compared with 46% who said they were thriving. Five percent said they were suffering. Gallup noted that the findings contrast sharply with readings taken in 2022 and 2023, when over half of employees said they were thriving. “The slide in workers’ thriving rate has been gradual but consistent,” Gallup reported, noting that no quarterly readings have shown back-to-back increases in employees’ thriving rate. Though most U.S. employees reported lower thriving in 2025, the thriving rate of federal government employees fell much more sharply than in other sectors — a change that once again contrasted with ratings recorded in 2022.
Crux
Spanish woman chooses euthanasia after legal battle with her father
By Fionn Shiner, March 26, 2026
A young woman who has been paraplegic since 2022 after a failed suicide attempt is due to be euthanised on Thursday in Spain after her father unsuccessfully fought several legal battles to try to prevent it from taking place. Noelia Castillo, who is from Barcelona, confirmed in an interview with Spanish TV station Antena 3 that on Thursday she will undergo euthanasia against the wishes of both her father and her mother. “I’m having euthanasia on the 26th. No one in my family is in favor, but a parent’s happiness shouldn’t come before a daughter’s life. I simply want to go in peace and stop suffering,” she stated in a preview of the interview. “The happiness of a father, a mother, or a sister cannot take precedence over the happiness of a daughter,” she added. Her father’s arguments note that she has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and has long suffered from suicidal ideation, thus influencing her decision-making capabilities.
Related: Euthanasia and the “Right to Die”: Compassion or Culture of Disposal? - Catholicus.eu offers deep ethical, theological, and pastoral concerns - May 2025
The Pillar
Pope Leo asks French bishops for ‘generous inclusion’ of TLM
By Edgar Beltrán, March 25, 2026
A March 18 letter sent by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin on behalf of Pope Leo encourages the French Bishops’ Conference to embrace liturgical diversity and find ways to include “those sincerely attached to the Vetus Ordo.” Vetus Ordo refers to the older form of the Roman Rite Mass. Pope Leo was expected to eventually lift restrictions on the celebration of the preconciliar liturgy imposed by Pope Francis in 2021. Parolin’s letter clearly indicates that Pope Leo wishes local bishops to move quickly toward that end. The letter says that the pope is “particularly attentive” to the bishops’ discussion on the liturgy, “in the context of the growth of communities bound to the Vetus Ordo.” To heal this wound, a “new perspective” is needed, it continues. The letter says a fresh perspective, “with a greater understanding of each other’s sensitivities, is certainly necessary; a perspective that can allow brothers, enriched by their diversity, to welcome one another in charity and the unity of faith.”
Aleteia
Pope backs ‘spiritual adoption of the unborn’
By Jenny Lark Snarski, March 19, 2025
At his general audience on Wednesday, March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, Pope Leo XIV greeted Polish visitors and commended an undertaking being launched in Poland. Poland, like many countries, marks the feast of Jesus' conception as Respect Life Day. He also praised the Spiritual Adoption of an Unborn Child, a movement being undertaken by Polish Catholics. The notion of spiritual adoption of the unborn hearkens to the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen. As the movement for legalized abortion in the United States was growing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Archbishop Sheen composed a brief prayer of spiritual adoption, with which one could pray for an unborn child at risk: “Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love you very much. I beg of you to spare the life of the unborn child I have spiritually adopted, who is in danger of abortion.” Soon, the individual prayer became a movement. "In a time marked by the madness of war, it is important to defend life from conception until its natural end. I bless you all!" said the Pope.
Angelus News
More than 8,000 in LA are becoming Catholic on Easter
By Mike Cisneros, March 26, 2026
Dioceses across the country have reported significant increases in the number of adults entering the Catholic Church in recent years, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles is no exception. In 2023, LA welcomed 3,462 catechumens and candidates — both children and adults who had never been baptized, plus those who had been baptized but had never completed the other sacraments — into the Church at Easter. Then in 2024, there were 3,596. In 2025, a significant bump of a combined 5,587 entered. For Easter 2026, the archdiocese expects an even more staggering increase: 8,598 catechumens and candidates. Church leaders say there’s no clear answer. Some point to a reawakening born from the personal desolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. Others credit the spirit created by the three-year National Eucharistic Revival throughout the country. Many find it to be a sign of spiritual hunger caused by a confusing and turbulent world.
National Catholic Register
Benedictine Abbot asks for single Missal to bridge liturgical divide
By Solène Tadié, March 25, 2026
Could Benedictine monks who managed to resolve their own internal disputes over the old and new forms of the Mass help ease liturgical tensions within the wider Church? Dom Geoffroy Kemlin, the head of the Abbey of Solesmes since 2022, proposes bringing both forms of the Mass into a single missal and calendar, rather than maintaining the current practice of keeping them separate. Doing so, the abbot argues, would promote a mutual enrichment. Priests could reintroduce elements from the older missal, such as the prayers at the foot of the altar or the traditional Offertory, while celebrations according to the older structure could benefit from developments of the reform, including the vernacular, the expanded lectionary, and the newer Eucharistic prayers. Dom Kemlin believes that the exchange of the old and new within the same liturgical corpus and a shared ecclesial setting offers a more unifying alternative to a policy of restriction or mere coexistence.
EWTN News
One-fourth of all AM/FM U.S. radio stations are faith focused
By Tessa Gervasini, March 26, 2026
A new Pew Research Center report found that 25% of all AM and FM radio stations in the United States have a faith focus. The report, “Religious Radio Across America,” was conducted by the Pew-Knight Initiative, which supports research on how Americans consume civic information, form beliefs and identities, and engage in communities. Faith-based radio in America dates back to the earliest broadcasts of Sunday services at the beginning of the 1920s. Today, there are more than 4,000 terrestrial religious radio stations in the U.S., according to the Pew-Knight Initiative. The research found that 37% of Americans who listen to religious audio programming said it is “extremely important” or “very important” to their religious or spiritual lives. Another 35% said it is “somewhat important,” and 29% said it is either “not too important” or “not at all important.” 63% of religious stations identify as “Christian,” 10% with a specific Protestant denomination, and 8% identify as Catholic.
Angelus News, EWTN & ChurchPOP for 3/26/26
Angelus News
Angelus joins in the great work of evangelization - March 26, 2026
The mission of Angelus is to provide our readers with the best in Catholic news, first-rate analysis of events and trends shaping the Church and the world
When no internet leads to an unplanned Lenten sacrifice - Robert Brennan, Mar 25, 2026 - This deprivation has been easier than I thought it would be (so far). Is it really so bad not to have access to the news headlines that are 90% death and destruction, and 10% serious harm and extensive damage?
We all have an immune system, but for the soul - Father Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, Mar 25, 2026 - Thomas Moore, author of “Care of the Soul,” teaches that our most important spiritual task is to listen to the promptings of our own soul. If listened to in honesty, it will guide, protect, and keep us healthy.
Younger Catholics increasingly Hispanic - Gina Christian, OSV News, Mar 24, 2026 - Younger Catholic adults in the U.S. are more likely to be Hispanic or Latino. “Significant change” could be seen across generations in “racial and ethnic diversity.” Data shows 40% of Gen-Z Catholics self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, compared to 18% among their Baby Boomer counterparts.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — March 26, 2026
Formerly known as Catholic News Agency, 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.
Case against priest for alleged role in attempted coup d’état in Brazil dismissed - By Monasa Narjara - In November 2024, Brazil’s Federal Police had named Father José Eduardo de Oliveira e Silva as a suspect in the attempt to prevent the presidential inauguration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Ukraine monastery hit in Russian missile strike, ‘most historic church’ targeted so far - By Madalaine Elhabbal - A 400-year-old Bernardine monastery and UNESCO World Heritage site in “the heart of Ukraine’s Catholic region” will require significant repairs following Russian attacks. “This happens a lot,” said Steven Moore, executive producer of “A Faith Under Siege.”
How Catholic volunteers serve Bangladesh’s forgotten children this Lent - By Sumon Corraya - As Lent calls Catholics around the world to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, many faithful in Bangladesh are embracing a fourth practice this year: serving the country’s street children at Tejgaon Church in Dhaka. “You can almost see children lying on the sidewalks everywhere in Dhaka,” said Catholic volunteer Mukta Rozario.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - March 26, 2026
“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”
‘God Presented Himself to Me’: Perez Hilton Returns to Catholic Faith After Near-Death Experience - After 21 days in the hospital, Perez Hilton revealed he was raised Catholic and intends to return to church every week. Perez Hilton, who is openly gay and welcomed his children through surrogacy, shared that despite being raised Catholic, he had never truly believed—until this recent experience.
Fulton Sheen’s Beatification Is Official—He’ll Join These 13 North American Saints - With the recent news of the upcoming beatification of Bishop Fulton Sheen, here are the 13 North American saints he will join!
Is St. Joseph’s Incorrupt Body Waiting to Be Found? The Clues in Bl. Emmerich’s Mystical Visions - If Anne’s visions have led to such mind-blowing breakthroughs, what makes us think the incorrupt body of Saint Joseph isn’t waiting to be found?
Nutshell reflections for 3/26/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection - VIDEO - March 26, 2026
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
Church Life Journal
God and humans are simultaneously responsible for circumstances
By Gary A. Anderson, March 26, 2026
The nadir of David’s reign was reached when he orchestrated the death of Uriah the Hittite to conceal his adultery with Bathsheba. Among the consequences prophesied by Nathan was the grim decree that “the sword shall never depart from your house” (2 Sam 12:10). Only a few chapters later, this prediction begins to materialize: David’s beloved son, Absalom, rises in revolt and violently seizes the throne (2 Sam 15:1-12), forcing David to flee Jerusalem in fear for his life (vv. 13ff). For the discerning reader, this should raise a question. Has divine providence—God’s power to guide and direct human affairs—overridden free will? Has Absalom lost all his agency and become just a pawn on a much larger chessboard that the prophet Nathan has just described? The Bible’s answer to that question is a decisive “no.” And the way it makes its point is through the principle of double causality. That is, the notion that both God and human beings can be simultaneously responsible for the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
The Christian Science Monitor
Social media platforms are harming teens’ health
By Stephen Humphries, March 25, 2026
Within the space of 24 hours, tech giant Meta lost two landmark court cases in two states related to the alleged harms of social media for children. In a Los Angeles lawsuit, a jury found on Wednesday that Meta and YouTube’s negligent designs of their social media platforms were a substantial factor in causing harm to the mental health of a young woman. On Tuesday, in a separate case in New Mexico, a jury concluded that Meta misled consumers about the safety of its platforms and enabled child exploitation. That case was brought by the state’s Justice Department. “For years, social media companies have profited from targeting children while concealing their addictive and dangerous design features,” the lawyers wrote. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” said New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez.
Providence
Iran war and public opinion
By Mark Tooley, March 24, 2026
Waging war with only a partisan base comprising a minority of the population further amplifies domestic polarization. And it obviously weakens American resolve to take strong action on the world stage. No democracy, however adamant, can long wage war or sustain an international policy absent majority support. Nor should a responsible democracy even try. The arguments must be made to persuade the majority. War is government’s most important and dangerous vocation. Typically, since World War II, most Americans have supported U.S. military actions at their beginning. So, the lack of majority support for the Iran War at the start is unusual. A Reuters poll shows only 37% of Americans supporting with 59% disapproving. Other polls show approval at 40%, with the remaining undecided or opposed. By contrast, the Iraq War began in 2003 with over 70% approving. 70% approved of the 1983 U.S. invasion of Grenada and the 1986 strikes on Libya. 65% backed the 1992 humanitarian intervention in Somalia. A majority approved the 1999 strikes on Serbia. A plurality but not a majority approved the 2011 strikes on Libya.
Wild at Heart
The assault on our desire
By John Eldredge, March 26, 2026
The battle of desire is not something that just takes place within us or even between us. It is also taking place against us, all the time. Our desire is under nearly constant attack. “We come into the world longing,” says Gil Bailie, “for we know not what. We are desire. And desire is good, for it’s what takes us to God. But our desire is not hard-wired to God.” So we look to others to teach us what to desire. We are intensely imitative creatures, as Aristotle pointed out. It is how we learn language; it is how we master just about anything in life. It is also how we come to seize upon the objects of our desire. We all know this, though we don’t like to admit it. The constant effort to arouse and capture our desire can be described only as an assault. The life you are longing for can be achieved. Only buy this product, see this movie, drive this car, take this vacation, join this gym, what have you. The only disagreement is over the means, but everyone agrees on the end: we can find life now.
Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay
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