Catholic Nutshell News: Tuesday 10/28/25
Topics include: ‘Women are already better’; Belarus pleads for end to sanctions; What’s next in Gaza; & People not having children is a bad idea
“I’ll pray for thee from my pistachio tree”
Today's sources are the National Catholic Register, CNA, The Imaginative Conservative, CRUX, The Pillar, Big Pulpit, and MOM. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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ACI Africa
On equality, Pope’s mom said, ‘Women are already better’
By Antonio Tarallo, October 27, 2025
Pope Leo XIV drew laughter and applause on Oct. 24 when he recalled asking his mother in the 1970s whether she wanted equality with men. “No,” she replied, “because we’re already better.” The story, he explained, came from a time when debates about equality between men and women were just beginning to take hold in his native United States. Pope Leo then described a community of sisters in Peru whose charism is to serve where there are no priests. “They baptize, assist at marriages, and carry out a wonderful missionary work that is a testimony even for many priests,” he said. But the pope warned that in many parts of the world, cultural barriers still prevent women from exercising their rightful roles. The task of the Church, Leo said, is to help transform cultures “according to the values of the Gospel,” so “the gifts and charisms of every person are respected and valued.”
The Pillar
Catholic leaders in Belarus plead for end to sanctions
By Luke Coppen, October 27, 2025
Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, met in Minsk on Oct. 27 with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the Eastern European country with an iron grip since 1994. Lukashenko, who has presided over a crackdown on the Catholic Church in Belarus since 2020, told the Italian cardinal he looked forward to discussing “all the issues that may have accumulated in our relationship.” Gugerotti appeared to criticize the international community for isolating Belarus, which is one of Russia’s closest allies and served as a launchpad for the 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. During an Oct. 16 private audience at the Vatican, Archbishop Iosif Staneuski, the president of the Belarusian bishops’ conference, noted that 2026 would mark 35 years since the restoration of Catholic structures in Belarus following the collapse of communism.
Times of Israel
US and ceasefire partners debate what’s next in Gaza
By Jessica Steinberg, October 28, 2025
With the ceasefire deal still incomplete since 13 hostages’ bodies remain in Gaza, Times of Israel US bureau chief Jacob Magid discussed the US desire to move forward with US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan. The US is filtering facts on the ground, says Magid, but there are concerns from other partners about some of the decisions, including whether the focus should be on Hamas disarmament or the postwar management of Gaza. Following last week’s preliminary vote in the Knesset to advance a West Bank annexation bill and the angry reaction from the US administration, Magid said the Trump government has shifted its tone since February, away from weighing the issue of Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and dropping the idea of a non-Gazan Gaza “Riviera.”
Related: Casket returned by Hamas had partial remains of hostage whose body IDF had already recovered 2 years ago, Israel says - By Emanuel Fabian, Lazar Berman and Sam Sokol, Times of Israel, October 28, 2025
CatholicVote
Majority of Americans: People not having children is a bad idea
By Hannah Hiester, October 28, 2025
A majority of Americans across political ideologies and demographics (53%) in a Pew survey said that having fewer children would have an adverse effect on the country. That’s up six percentage points from a 2024 poll. Men and Republicans are more concerned about falling birth rates than women and Democrats are. Those who favor government involvement in raising the birth rate generally support increasing tax credits for parents, providing paid family leave and free childcare, and covering fertility treatments in health insurance plans. Most respondents favored giving parents more tax credits (82%), while a large majority favored requiring employers to provide paid family leave (75%). Other policies that performed well included free child care and covering fertility treatment in health insurance plans.
Related: Putin signals concern for ‘falling birth rates’ in Russia, seeks state solutions, Oct 27, 2025, By Tyler Arnold, CNA, Oct 27, 2025
Catholic News Agency
‘Largest Bible study in America’ kicks off Nov. 5
By Tessa Gervasini / Ken Oliver-Méndez, October 27, 2025
The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology is launching a new Bible study program to help Catholics prepare for the Advent and Christmas seasons. The Bible study, titled “Bible Across America,” is set to begin Nov. 5 and aims to gather Catholics “around God’s Word to prayerfully study Scripture, grow in discipleship, and build one another up in the Lord.” As “Bible Across America” is expected to welcome thousands of participants simultaneously, St. Paul Center anticipates it will be the “largest Bible study” in the United States. The organization is working in partnership with other Catholic organizations on the project, including Hallow, FOCUS, and Mount St. Mary’s University. The initiative builds on the center’s previous “Journey Through Scripture” video Bible studies
The Angelus
Churches should help a divided America stop feeling ‘occupied’
By Greg Erlandson, October 23, 2025
Perhaps the churches can serve as fire wardens. As I listen to folks on both sides of the political divide in our own country, I am increasingly concerned that in our reactions, Americans of all stripes feel as if they are in an occupied land. For the red, the occupation is manifested in the universities and late-night television shows, the entertainment industry, news media, immigrants, and guest workers. For the blue, the occupation includes masked ICE agents, a Justice Department going after ideological enemies, and a government willing to use its might to impose its will on those citizens it deems “not on board.” Pouring gasoline on all of this is social media, with algorithms intentionally designed to fuel rage and to reinforce our own biases. In our parish halls and churches, however, perhaps the solution to our profound distrust of one another can begin from the bottom up.
CRUX
Concerts at Rome’s Colosseum must reflect its ‘sacred space’
By David Biller / Sylvia Stellacci (AP), October 27, 2025
The man who just took charge of Rome’s top tourist attraction wants to set the record straight: The Colosseum won’t be hosting any electronic dance music parties on his watch. Simone Quilici, director of the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum, shared his plan to bring concerts to the almost 2,000-year-old amphitheater. Complaints from archaeologists and ordinary Romans express dismay that their cultural heritage could be desecrated. Concerts must respect the Colosseum as a “sacred space,” Quilici said, as it is integral to Roman identity and has become imbued with religious significance. Today, it is the site of the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) procession during Easter, traditionally presided over by the pope. Only a handful of concerts have been held in the Colosseum over the years.
Our Sunday Visitor
The truth about exorcists
By Theresa Civantos Barber, October 24, 2025
“The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist,” wrote Charles Baudelaire. But Catholics know better. The devil exists and is active today. Exorcisms still take place regularly: Many Catholic dioceses have a designated exorcist priest. Exorcisms are not just a Hollywood drama, although filmmakers and the general public seem to have an unhealthy fascination with them. That’s exactly why the world needs a new movie: Triumph Over Evil: Battle of the Exorcists. Made in cooperation with the International Association of Exorcists, Triumph Over Evil is the first and only Vatican-approved documentary about exorcisms. Catch it in theaters worldwide on October 30, 2025. You can get tickets here.
From Pulpit & CNA to Fides for 10/28/25
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards Catholic blogger site: October 28, 2025
The Big Pulpit website is an intelligent news aggregator offering quality insight & analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide. Here are Chief Editor Tito Edward’s top recommendations for today.
Cardinal Burke’s Vatican Latin Mass Draws Record Numbers – Michael Haynes at Per Mariam
Nov. 7: Supreme Court to Study Whether to Hear Dispute to Same-Sex ‘Marriage’ – SCOTUS Blog
Off The Radar: The Real Genocide Is Not Taking Place In Gaza, But In Nigeria – The Remnant
Ritual & Anti-Ritual: Cultic & Cultural Consequences – Peter A. Kwasniewski, Ph.D.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — October 28, 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 activities of the Holy See, available to anyone with internet access.
St. Bartolo Longo is an example for those with mental health struggles, priest says - Oct 28, 2025 - By Hannah Brockhaus, Rudolf Gehrig - Newly canonized St. Bartolo Longo was a former Satanist “priest” whose remarkable conversion led him to create a Shrine to Our Lady of the Rosary and spread devotion to the prayer — was canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Oct. 19.
Meet the laywoman who kept the Catholic faith alive in Soviet camps - Oct 27, 2025 - By Alexey Gotovskiy - Gertrude Detzel kept the Catholic faith alive in Soviet Kazakhstan for decades amid persecution. Her cause for sainthood begins the Roman phase of the first laywoman from Central Asia to reach Rome.
Why is St. Jude the patron saint of lost causes? - Oct 28, 2025 - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - On Oct. 28, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of St. Jude, also known as Thaddeus, one of the 12 apostles. He is believed to have written the Letter of Jude, one of the shortest books of the Bible, and martyred in Beirut near 65 A.D.
Agenzia Fides
Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies - 10/28/25
Fides News Agency (Fides) was established in 1927, at the direction of the Council Superior General of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, as the first Missionary Agency of the Church and among the first agencies in the world.
AMERICA/HAITI - “Approaching hurricane Melissa”: the village of Pourcine Pic-Makaya is on alert - Pourcine Pic-Makaya (Agenzia Fides) – “It’s approaching, it’s raining heavily, but wind and water are forecast especially for this afternoon/evening and tomorrow. Let’s hope it won’t be too severe!” said Father Massimo Miraglio, MI.
AFRICA/SUDAN - Serious humanitarian situation in El-Fasher, captured by RSF militias - Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – There is great concern for the approximately 260,000 civilians who have been trapped for 18 months in El-Fasher. This city fell on October 26 into the hands of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
VATICAN - Artificial intelligence and mission at the center of the Pontifical Missionary Union’s Online International Conference - Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Next Friday, October 31, the anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Missionary Union (PMU), the second annual online International Conference organized by the Missionary Society.
Nutshell reflections for 10/28/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - October 28, 2025
Feast of Saints Simon and Jude, Apostles
Aleteia
Were Saints Simon and Jude really brothers of Jesus Christ?
By Philip Kosloski, October 28, 2025
“Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary and his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude?” (Matthew 13:55). Some translations will switch out “brothers” for “brethren,” which is a more general term. The primary problem behind the word “brothers” is that it would appear to deny the Blessed Mother’s perpetual virginity. This would make it seem that Jesus had biological brothers and that Mary was not a virgin. In Greek, the word used for “brothers” is “adelphos.” According to Fr. William Saunders, “Adelphos was used to describe brothers not born of the same parents, like a half-brother or stepbrother. The word also described other relationships, like cousins, nephews, etc.” It doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus had blood brothers, but that he had other family members, such as cousins. The Church affirms that Jesus did not have any biological brothers, and that Mary was a virgin her whole life.
Imaginative Conservative
Contemplation: The way to union with Christ
By David Torkington, October 25, 2025
From the very beginning, the faithful have been taught that the Church is the bride and Christ is the bridegroom. The Fathers of the Church used the “Song of Solomon” to show how this relationship extends to every single member of the Church as they detailed their journey along the mystic way toward the ultimate mystical marriage in heaven. However, St Bernard was even more specific: it is in and through contemplation itself that this marriage first finds its completion as we are bonded to Christ. Then, in, with and through him, we are led into the ultimate marriage with the Three in One, to all eternity. It is of paramount importance, therefore, to realize precisely what constitutes this contemplation. There is no other way to union with Christ.
Catholic Mom
Teach us to pray
By Erika Dix, October 28, 2025
Prayer is not just an action; it is also a place, a feeling, a connection, and so many other responses to how God calls us to Him. I am so grateful to the disciple who asked Jesus how to pray because, due to that request, we have the “perfect” prayer, in my opinion. After this, Jesus shares the “Our Father” with his disciples. This prayer is literally given to us from God, through His Son, so it has to be perfect! We have a clear understanding of what God wants to hear from us. Our hearts long for a connection, especially to our Creator. That longing is beautifully summed up by Jesus’ disciple, who asks to be taught to pray after seeing Jesus finish His own prayer. It is wonderful to have a teacher for our own prayer, a teacher who responds with love and caring to guide us on our own paths to our Father.
Catholic Stand
Trifecta of October holy days coming up!
By Dan Fitzpatrick, October 28, 2025
A trifecta of special days takes place at the end of every October. And Catholic parents trying to raise their children counter-culturally would do well to instruct and involve their family in all three of these days! Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day are all connected by their roots in Catholicism and in their association with departed souls. Instead of focusing on the secularized, commercialized aspect of Halloween, faithful Catholic parents should teach their sons and daughters about the Christian foundations of Halloween. Halloween is technically “All Hallows Eve,” a time of preparation for the upcoming two days of remembering saints and our deceased relatives and friends. Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints Day back in the 700s, and October 31 eventually became known as All Hallows Eve. But the celebration of Halloween as we know it today started primarily in the U.S.
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