Catholic Nutshell News: Thursday 6/25/26
What Catholics should know: 50 days in jail for homeschooling; Abuse settlement fraud ring; SSPX defies Pope Leo XIV; & Child under 12 euthanized in the Netherlands
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Your 5-minute Catholic briefing for busy faithful. Today's sources include Aleteia, EWTN News, National Catholic Register, The Pillar, Zeale News, 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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Zenit
Brazilian parents sentenced to 50 days in jail for homeschooling
By Rafael Manuel Tovar, June 23, 2026
A judge in Brazil sentenced a couple to 50 days in prison for homeschooling their children, accusing them of “intellectual negligence” and of not teaching them “tolerance and diversity.” During the 2020 pandemic, Audato and Ieda Denardi began homeschooling their daughters, Alice and Lorena, aged 15 and 11, due to deficiencies in the distance learning programs implemented in public schools. Homeschooling has been debated for years in Brazil. The Supreme Federal Court determined in 2019 that this practice does not violate the Constitution, although it requested that the National Congress regulate it. Ieda said: “As a mother, I cannot imagine a more dictatorial State than one that wants me in jail for choosing to exercise my right to direct my daughters’ education and care. My husband and I hope the court will recognize our right to choose the best education for our children and overturn this unjust conviction.”
Our Sunday Visitor
Archdiocese countersuit against abuse settlement fraud ring
By Simone Orendain, June 23, 2026
The Archdiocese of Chicago has been given the go-ahead to proceed with its countersuit against abuse settlement claimants who received payouts or had pending settlements after filing allegedly false claims. Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago announced, in a June 12 letter, the Cook County Circuit Court’s decision after the defense tried to have the lawsuit dismissed. “We look forward to pursuing these claims,” James Geoly, the archdiocese’s general counsel, said in a June 19 email to OSV News. The archdiocese’s case names seven defendants, whom it said were part of a wide network of claimants, including some based in Illinois’ jail and prison system, who schemed to receive settlements. The archdiocese said it discovered the enterprise after closely examining a claim submitted by someone serving a prison sentence.
Crux
SSPX defies Pope Leo XIV and embraces its outsider status
By Nicole Winfield, June 24, 2026
A breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics will challenge Pope Leo XIV’s authority next week by consecrating four bishops without his consent. Rather than shying away from the confrontation, the Society of St. Pius X seems intent on embracing its notoriety. The group, known as the SSPX, has embraced technology and digital branding of its religious identity, despite its antimodern, integralist agenda. “Their game is not about getting back into the fold, but getting back into the monopoly of that ultra-traditionalist identity,” said Massimo Faggioli, professor of theology at Villanova University. SSPX, which celebrates the traditional Latin Mass and rejects the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, is planning a highly organized, four-day, livestreamed extravaganza for the consecrations at its Swiss seminary. The July 1 event, nearly four decades after the group first became a thorn in the Vatican’s side, suggests it is leaning in even more ardently to its schismatic status for a new generation of Catholics who prefer their Masses in Latin and don’t mind that their bishops are out of communion with Rome.
The Pillar
South African bishop calls for calm ahead of anti-migrant deadline
By Luke Coppen, June 24, 2026
Bishop Thulani Victor Mbuyisa, C.M.M., said June 24 that the Church understood the protestors’ underlying concerns but believed they could not be resolved by targeting foreign nationals. Mbuyisa, the chairman of the justice and peace commission for the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, said: “As the June 30 deadline for all undocumented foreigners to leave South Africa approaches, we appeal for calm and urge all those involved in anti-migration protests to refrain from violence against foreign nationals and to respect and uphold the rule of law.” “We also call on the public to refrain from spreading misinformation, inflammatory rhetoric, and unverified videos that may further fuel fear, panic, and social tension.” South Africa, a country of about 65 million people that had a system of racial segregation known as Apartheid from 1948 to 1994, has seen a new wave of anti-migrant protests and attacks in 2026. Previous waves occurred in 2008, 2015, and 2019.
Aleteia
Child under 12 euthanized in the Netherlands
By Theresa Civantos Barber, June 25, 2025
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide, and now the nation has set another grim record, becoming the second to euthanize a minor child under 12. Previously, Belgium permitted the euthanasia of two children aged 9 and 11. The two nations are the only ones in the world where it is legal to euthanize minor children. The news came from an annual report from the committee that reviews all late-term abortions and medically assisted deaths of children, which Health Minister Sophie Hermans presented to the Dutch parliament on Monday, June 22. In the letter, Hermans revealed that a child with “severe illness” died from euthanasia at the end of 2025, Dutch News reports. The report did not include any personal details about the child or their medical condition.
National Catholic Register
Paglia desired to change the Church’s doctrines at their root
By Andrea Gagliarducci, June 18, 2026
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia — the former head of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family in Rome, as well as the former head of the Pontifical Academy for Life — recently granted an interview in which he openly admitted that one of his goals was to change the Catholic Church’s moral theology. Archbishop Paglia said that he wanted to move away from “armchair theology” grounded in natural law theory and toward a new paradigm that focuses on the lived experiences of real people in their concrete circumstances. In this latest interview, he is brutally honest about his ultimate aims. And he has elicited a profound and important response from the Institute’s former president, Msgr. Livio Melina, who was also among the professors Archbishop Paglia fired. Melina said Paglia accused the John Paul II Institute of advancing a conception of natural law understood as a set of immutable principles from which moral norms are deduced. He proposed, instead, that natural law must be grounded in an ongoing historical discernment of subjective and cultural experience.
Zeale News
Support for LGBT issues down after peaks in early 2020s
By Elise Winland, June 17, 2026
After years of growing support for LGBT issues, a recent Gallup poll shows U.S. public opinion has shifted modestly in the other direction, with support for legal same-sex marriage, moral acceptance of gay and lesbian relations, and approval of gender “transitions” all down from peaks recorded in the early 2020s. Gallup found that 65% of U.S. adults now say same-sex marriage should be legally valid, down from a record-high 71% in 2022 and 2023. The share of Americans who say gay or lesbian relations are morally acceptable stands at 62%, the lowest level since 2016 and down from a peak of 71% in 2022. Just 38% say “changing one’s gender” is morally acceptable, down from its peak at 46% in 2021, when Gallup first asked the question. The findings come from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 1-17, which asked 1,001 U.S. adults, with a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
EWTN News
Vatican hosts Christians, Dharmic faiths to dialogue
By Almudena Martínez-Bordiú, June 25, 2026
Representatives of Christianity and Dharmic religions present in Europe gathered in Rome this week to reflect on fraternity and promote interreligious dialogue and cooperation across the continent. The Vatican’s Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue organized the June 23–24 meeting at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelicum, under the theme: “Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Jains and Sikhs in Europe: Building Fraternity through Dialogue and Collaboration.” According to a June 24 Vatican statement, “some prominent religious leaders, academics, scholars and representatives of Christianity and the Dharmic religions (Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism)” took part in the conference. The meeting, promoted by the dicastery “in continuity with its previous initiatives,” brought together people committed to “strengthening human fraternity through interreligious dialogue and cooperation in Europe.”
Related: Celebrating Islam in an Archdiocese of Decline, By Timothy D. Lusch, Catholic World Report, June 21, 2026
Keep informed - 6/25/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from OSV, EWTN News, & ChurchPOP
OSV News
OSV’s seasoned reporters - June 25, 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.
Sheen beatification tickets defray ‘substantial costs’ of inviting thousands, says bishop - by Gina Christian - June 24, 2026 - Tickets to the September 2026 beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen are quickly being snapped up. The $15-$25 admission price is due to the “substantial costs” in planning and holding the event at a national-level venue, Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, told OSV News.
Flannery O’Connor: Southern writer made Catholic vision ‘apparent by shock’ - by Russell Shaw - June 25, 2026 - Flannery O’Connor was not an evangelist. She was an artist, one of the most gifted American fiction writers of the 20th century. But a profoundly Catholic theological vision informs her art, giving her stories resonance and depth that sound deep — and sometimes deeply disturbing — spiritual chords.
Previously unpublished homilies of Pope Benedict XVI released in English -by Vatican News - June 24, 2026 - The volume, originally published in Italian by the Vatican Publishing House, is titled, “The Lord Holds Us by the Hand.” It is a compilation of homilies delivered between 2005 and 2017 during the liturgical seasons of Advent, Lent and Easter.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — June 25, 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.
800th anniversary of Toledo cathedral’s chapels: Where Spanish history, faith, and art converge - By Nicolás de Cárdenas - The Cathedral of Toledo, Spain, is home to eight chapels whose designs and purposes reflect centuries of Spanish history, encompassing both its royal dynasties and Church hierarchy.
Philippine court dismisses case against bishop involved in mining dispute - By Mark Saludes - Bishop Jose Elmer Mangalinao of Bayombong welcomed the June 24 ruling, which dismissed a complaint against him, another priest, and community leaders related to a mining exploration project.
Bishop Baldacchino to climb Mount Cristo Rey as the government moves to seize diocesan land - By Tessa Gervasini - The federal government is seeking to seize land from the Las Cruces Diocese for 1.5 miles of border wall, a move the diocese says would desecrate a sacred site and impede religious practice.
ChurchPOP Trending
ChurchPOP provides fun, informative, and authentically Catholic news and culture - June 25, 2026
“We publish inspiring daily stories, fun and shareable faith-centered infographics, prayers, Church history, and more.”
Andrea Bocelli Says He Owes His Mother Everything for Refusing to Abort Him: She ‘Chose to Trust in Life’ - “Life, when welcomed and not feared, multiplies, and the civilizations that have prospered are those that have invested in new generations.”
Can’t Live Without Your Coffee? Then Thank This 17th-Century Pope! - If it wasn’t for a certain forward-thinking pope who was willing to go against the counsel of his advisers, coffee might never have found its way to you.
Lionel Messi Makes Sign of the Cross After Breaking FIFA World Cup Records: ‘God Gave Me Too Much’ - Praise God for Lionel Messi’s public witness to his Catholic faith!
June 25, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE — or read HERE:
Thursday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Vatican News
Pope Leo: Sport is medicine for body and spirit
By Devin Watkins, June 25, 2026
Pope Leo XIV met on Thursday with members of the Italian Swimming Federation and participants in the International Swimming Championships. The 62nd Sette Colli Trophy takes place at the historic Foro Italico Swimming Stadium in Rome on June 26-28, and serves as a final qualifying event ahead of the upcoming European Championships and Mediterranean Games. In his address, the Pope said sport can serve as medicine for the body and the spirit, if it is approached correctly. “It integrates the various dimensions of the person and directs them toward very important values, such as commitment, solidarity, and honesty,” he said. In competitive sporting activities, the Pope added, an athlete reveals the quality of their motivation as they exercise willpower and drive to perform. Besides bodily health, sport also provides an opportunity for spiritual nourishment, especially swimming, noted Pope Leo.
Our Sunday Visitor
When the White House hosted a Catholic wedding & a baptism
By Thomas J. Craughwell, June 25, 2026
U.S. President Andrew Jackson had a reputation as a violent man. Even off the battlefield, Jackson was aggressive — he fought 13 duels (although only one of these ended with the death of his opponent). In spite of his hair-trigger temper, Jackson was a soft touch when it came to children, a quality made all the more poignant by the fact that he and his wife, Rachel, were childless. The Jacksons adopted or served as guardians to nearly a dozen children, including the surviving child of Major William B. Lewis, Mary Anne Lewis. The Lewis family was Catholic, and although the Jacksons were Presbyterians, they made certain that Mary Anne attended Mass and continued her education in the Catholic faith. When engaged to Joseph Pageot, the secretary for the French Legation in Washington and a fellow Catholic, President Jackson offered to host the wedding ceremony in the White House. Later, when Father Matthews, who officiated the wedding, returned to the White House to baptize the Pageots’ son, the rite took place in the Red Room.
What We Need Now
‘Christian’ Origins of Feminism and of Our Nation
By Margaret Harper McCarthy, June 23, 2026
The current debate over the Christian origins of feminism is a lot like the one over the Christian origins of America. It is argued that the Founders of America and the “first wave” feminists were mostly good Christian gentlemen and good Christian ladies, that they sought inspiration from the Christian Scriptures, that, therefore, their ideas were essentially Christian, or at least compatible with it. In each case, too, Christianity was recovering something that had been lost to it through past corruption. Reason and natural law had returned after a centuries-long banishment under voluntarism and its arbitrary power. Indeed, the founding feminist anticipated Benedict XVI’s call to redeem reason, no less. Equality and freedom, too—both central to Christianity—were making a kind of debut, at least as politically instantiated. This account, however, is a bit naïve and misleading. Few, if any, of the founders at the time of the Revolution put any stock in Christianity, even if they were publicly affiliated with it.
Wild at Heart
Authority: Given, lost, and recovered
By John Eldredge, June 18, 2026
Jesus said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you…” (Matthew 13:11). One of those secrets is this—the entire spiritual realm works on authority. Just like all the kingdoms do in fairy tales (they get all their good ideas from the Gospel). Remember—Adam and Eve were given authority over the earth, to “rule and subdue.” But they forfeited that authority, and the devil became the usurping “prince of this world.” Through his cross, Jesus cast the dark prince down, and after his resurrection, he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). Authority was given, lost, and recovered.
Image of peanuts by Nicole Köhler, from Pixabay
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