Catholic Nutshell News: Thursday 5/7/26
Topics include: Federal defunding of Planned Parenthood; Vatican criticizes conversion therapy; Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia tower; & German sanctions are premature
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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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Zeale
Johnson pushes to extend federal defunding of Planned Parenthood
By Mary Rose, May 6, 2026
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is working with pro-life lawmakers to try to extend a temporary defunding of Planned Parenthood before it expires July 4. The temporary defunding was included in President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which passed through the budget reconciliation process and required only a simple Senate majority. Johnson told attendees at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America Gala on April 29 that House Republicans intended to again use reconciliation to pursue Planned Parenthood funding restrictions, saying lawmakers had been “very creative” in using the process and planned “to do that again.” Some GOP lawmakers have expressed skepticism about advancing a third reconciliation package, while moderates have questioned whether there is enough support for another sweeping bill. “If Mike Johnson says we’re pitching for reconciliation, I will fight alongside him for it,” CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky told The Daily Signal. “But I really do not see how it happens.”
Religion News Service
Vatican criticizes conversion therapy, uses gay Catholic testimony
By Aleja Hertzler-McCain, May 7, 2026
The Vatican released a report on Tuesday (May 5) that included the testimony of two married gay Catholics and acknowledged the church’s role in “the solitude, anguish, and stigma that accompany persons with same-sex attractions and their families.” The report also reflects on the negative impacts of conversion therapy, or “the devastating effects of reparative therapies aimed at recovering heterosexuality.” “ It’s a big deal because they included testimonies and published testimonies from two LGBTQ people, both of them married, which is also unusual for the Vatican to do,” said the Rev. James Martin, a founder of Outreach, an LGBTQ Catholic ministry. “As far as I know, it’s the first time that in any official publication of the Vatican, they’ve included witnesses and testimonies and stories from LGBTQ Catholics in any kind of detailed way.” This synod document was written by a study group, not the pope, but its release to the public would have required his authorization.
Related: Synod releases final reports on selection of bishops, emerging issues, Vatican News, By Antonella Palermo, May 5, 2026
Related: Group 9 Synod Document, which includes text on “by pushing for ‘reparative therapy,’ had the effect of separating faith and sexuality.”
Crux
Pope will inaugurate Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia tower
By Nicole Winfield, Suman Naishadham, Renata Brito, May 7, 2026
Pope Leo XIV will inaugurate the soaring central tower of Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia basilica when he visits Spain next month in a weeklong trip that will also take him to a migrant reception center in the Canary Islands, the Vatican said Wednesday. The June 6-12 visit will first bring Leo to Madrid for meetings with the government, parliament, and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. He will also preside over a prayer vigil with young people to mark the last time a pope visited Spain: 2011, when Madrid hosted World Youth Day with Pope Benedict XVI. In Barcelona, Leo will be on hand to mark the 100th anniversary, on June 10, of the death of Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, who designed Sagrada Familia, the world’s tallest church. The tower brought Sagrada Familia to its maximum height, 172½ meters (around 566 feet) above Barcelona, but the building is still far from complete.
Related: Pope Leo meets with Marco Rubio at Vatican, Aleteia, By Kathleen N. Hattrup, May 7, 2025
The Pillar
End to India’s last communist-led state government
By Luke Coppen, May 5, 2026
India’s ruling Hindu nationalist party failed to gain a foothold in the Syro-Malabar Church’s heartland in a closely watched election in the southern state of Kerala. Despite fielding Christian candidates, the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to win four pivotal constituencies in the Syro-Malabar Belt, though it made incremental gains elsewhere. The outcome marked a setback for the BJP’s strategy of reaching out to Christian voters in hopes of expanding beyond its Hindu base to make a major electoral breakthrough in a state dominated by the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front. The Left Democratic Front, led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has held power in Kerala since 2016. But the United Democratic Front, led by the Indian National Congress, ended the Marxists’ 10-year rule in the April 9 election, winning 102 of the 140 seats in the Kerala Legislative Assembly, bringing an end to India’s last communist-led state government.
Aleteia
Marathon record-breaker offers powerful witness of faith
By Cerith Gardiner, May 4, 2025
When Sebastian Sawe crossed the finish line at the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes, and 30 seconds, he did more than win the race. He became the first man ever to run an official marathon in under two hours, pushing human endurance into territory that had, until now, seemed almost unreachable. And then, in the seconds immediately afterward, he did something beautifully familiar. Before the cameras closed in, before the commentators had quite found the right superlatives, Sawe lifted his hand and made the Sign of the Cross. There is also something quietly reassuring about faith displayed with such ease. The runner, who is a regular churchgoer, didn't make any fuss. There was no speech, no proclamation, no performance of piety. Just a natural reflex, as though this act of entrusting the moment to God was as instinctive to him as crossing himself before any other significant threshold.
Angelus News
A 98-year-old Oxnard woman became Catholic
By Ann Rodgers, April 27, 2026
As she approached her 98th birthday, Virginia Eidson was more concerned about her next life than her present one. It weighed on her that she had never been baptized. Born into a Cherokee, Choctaw, and Irish family in Oklahoma, her family was nominally Baptist but often too busy working to get to church. When she was about 13 and the Dust Bowl had destroyed their farmland, her stepfather packed their mother and nine children into the car and headed to California. “The others were all baptized, but not me. Somehow it never worked out,” she said. That changed at the Easter Vigil in Oxnard’s Santa Clara Church, where Virginia Eidson was by far the eldest of those who became Catholic this year. Her 77-year-old son, Bruce, sponsored her. “I said that I didn’t want to push her into doing something. She’s old enough to make her own decisions,” he said. Virginia’s mother was Cherokee. The family farmed large tracts of land in Pittsburg County, Oklahoma, that her grandfather had obtained for his seven daughters and one son.
National Catholic Register
Douthat: Leo means ‘American situation’ is the church’s future
By Jonathan Liedl, May 7, 2026
Nearly one year ago, Pope Leo XIV defied long-standing conventional wisdom that an American would never be elected to succeed St. Peter. But a leading Catholic commentator believes that the Chicago-born Pontiff may have been elected not despite his American background, but perhaps because of it. New York Times columnist Ross Douthat suggested that the election of an American Pope indicates that Church leadership now recognizes that the “American situation” — marked by pluralism, complexity, and conflict but also a vibrant local Church — may be a model for the rest of the Catholic world going forward. “That’s not some weird outlier, right?” said Douthat, an influential commentator on American politics, faith, and culture. “That’s going to be the norm of the 21st century.” Douthat said this recognition marks a shift from a prior dispensation, marked by Catholic strongholds in places like Poland, Italy, and Ireland that sent out missionaries to the rest of the world and were buttressed by Catholicism’s influence in culture and society.
EWTN News
Cardinal Parolin says calls for German sanctions are premature
By Ishmael Adibuah, May 6, 2026
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said on Wednesday it would be premature to discuss sanctions against the German bishops for blessings of same-sex couples. Parolin, however, did not rule out an intervention by the Holy See but expressed hope that it would be avoided. “It is premature now to speak of sanctions. Let us hope we never have to get to sanctions, and that problems can be resolved peacefully, as they should be in the Church,” Parolin told reporters on the sidelines at a book launch at the Patristic Institute in Rome on Wednesday. Several members of the German Bishops' Conference, citing the Vatican's declaration Fiducia Supplicans, have formalized blessings for same-sex couples in their dioceses. Recently, a 2024 letter from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith was circulated, prohibiting this practice. Pope Leo XIV has also weighed in on the issue, recently stating that the Holy See does not agree with the German bishops on the “formalized blessing of couples" beyond the allowances of Fiducia Supplicans.
OSV & EWTN News, with ChurchPOP for 5/7/26
OSV News
OSV’s seasoned reporters - May 7, 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.
Bank transformed into Virginia church now a ‘worthy space for worship, prayer, praise’ - May 7, 2026 - The Catholic community in Crozet that once gathered for Mass in a private school has now finished the renovation of the former branch bank it bought almost three years ago to become their church.
UFOs, extraterrestrial life explored at Vatican parish event - May 7, 2026 - Amid renewed claims by U.S. President Donald Trump and members of Congress that secret UFO files could soon be declassified, a Vatican parish hosted a discussion on extraterrestrial life and the modern disclosure movement.
New data analysis provides baseline for weighing options on unauthorized immigration, say experts - May 6, 2026 - New research shows the number of “undocumented immigrants” — if defined as those without long-term authorization to reside in the U.S., including those granted short-term legal status — reached an estimated 14.6 million in 2024, an “increasingly settled” population that reflects shifts in migration patterns.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — April 7, 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.
Pope Leo XIV accepts Filipino priest’s withdrawal as bishop-designate -
By Rommel F. Lopez - Father Gerardo F. Saco Jr., the priest appointed by Pope Leo XIV to become the next bishop of the Diocese of Tagbilaran in the Philippines, has decided not to proceed with his episcopal ordination, a move that surprised many clergy and faithful in Bohol province and across the Philippine Church.
Lithuanian families rally to save pro-life maternity home blessed by John Paul II - By Bryan Lawrence Gonsalves - Lithuaniaʼs only consistently pro-life maternity home — once blessed by St. John Paul II — faces closure under a government merger plan opposed by more than 12,000 petitioners.
Organized crime ‘rules’ in several states in Mexico, cardinal warns - By David Ramos - Through violent tactics and the lucrative drug trade, Mexican cartels have made deep inroads into a number of local and state governments in the country.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - May 7, 2026
“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”
e.l.f. Cosmetics Co-Founder Is Becoming a Catholic Priest—Here’s His Incredible Conversion Story - e.l.f Cosmetics co-founder Deacon Scott Borba will be ordained a priest on May 23, 2026. Here is his amazing conversion story!
The Catholic ‘Loophole’ to Happiness: 7 Habits From a Harvard Professor That Actually Work - Are you truly happy? Harvard professor Arthur Brooks explains the Catholic “loophole” to happiness.
Nick Jonas Drops Christian Song With Brandon Lake, Surprises Fans with Viral Performance - Artists Nick Jonas and Brandon Lake teamed up in an epic Christian performance that went completely viral on social media!
Nutshell reflections for 5/7/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection - VIDEO - May 7, 2026
Thursday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Church Life Journal
Art, beauty, and the need to make it new
By Gregory Wolfe, April 28, 2026
What, then, is new about beauty—and, in particular, about the kind of beauty we find in great art? I am aware that I am entering contested territory, where individual prejudices and emotions often run high. Everyone has their own rogue’s gallery of idiotic, vulgar, meretricious so-called art. From Marcel Duchamp’s repurposed urinal to the abstract “painting” of a blank canvas called “white on white,” to the naked performance artist dripping chocolate on herself, to 2019’s banana duct-taped to a wall, the pipeline of aesthetic outrages never seems to run dry. The more deeply I studied history, the more I discovered similar laments for the decline and fall of everything sacred and civilized in other eras. Caravaggio destroyed art because he included characters with dirty feet in sacred art; G.K. Chesterton claimed that Impressionism was the death of painting; Richard Weaver was disconsolate because jazz had brought Western music to an end. It takes time to fully grasp the new, to be taught by the form of the work how to interpret it.
ZENIT
42 lost pages of the New Testament manuscript discovered
By ZENIT Staff, May 5, 2026
An international team of academics led by Professor Garrick Allen at the University of Glasgow has successfully recovered 42 lost pages from one of the world’s most important early New Testament manuscripts: Codex H. The manuscript, a 6th-century copy of the Letters of St Paul, was lost to history when it was disassembled at the Great Lavra Monastery on Mount Athos, Greece, in the 13th century. Its pages were re-inked and reused as binding material and flyleaves for multiple other manuscripts. Today, the surviving fragments are scattered across libraries in Italy, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, and France. While the recovered text contains known portions of Paul’s Letters, the discovery offers a unique insight into how the New Testament has evolved and been understood through the centuries. It sheds new light on the people who made and used the manuscript, how people interacted with their sacred texts, and how books were reused once they fell into disrepair.
Caeli
Mary heeded my request - present my heart to God the Father
By Grace Hannon, May 6, 2026
Committing to daily personal prayer often means wrestling with stillness, silence, and sudden inspirations. Just like when I was little, sometimes I find it helpful to trace the movements of my heart on paper. My journal pages are a testament to my long-standing closeness to Jesus, but for most of my life, I lacked a strong devotion to Mary, his mother. That bewildered me; almost all of my Catholic friends and family seemed bound to Mary by due affection and admiration. Why not me? I prayed that she would take the heart I kept trying to hold (and inevitably kept dropping) and give it to Jesus. I prayed that, through her intercession, he would release me from what felt like spiritual and emotional bondage. She’d heeded my request and presented my heart to God the Father, just as she did with Jesus about two thousand years ago. And God the Father didn’t turn his face away from his handmaid. He took my heart in his hands and released me, while (I imagine) Mary looked on fondly, serenely, lovingly.
Wild at Heart
God is the God of all hope
By John Eldredge, May 7, 2026
Somewhere along the way, we all lose heart in marriage. We all do. It happens to the best of us. We might find a way to manage our disappointment and do our best to fight off resignation, but it works its way in. We let go of what we wanted, what we dreamed of, what we were created for. We begin to settle. Because marriage is hard, sometimes painfully hard, your first Great Battle is not to lose heart. That begins with recovering desire—the desire for the love that is written on your heart. Let desire return. Let it remind you of all that you wanted, all that you were created for. And then consider this—what if God could bring you your heart’s desire? It’s not too late. It isn’t too hard. You are not too far along, nor are you and your spouse too set in your ways. God is the God of all hope.
Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay
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