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Our Sunday Visitor
Vermont diocese seeks to withdraw bankruptcy filing
By Gina Christian, October 5, 2026
The Diocese of Burlington, Vermont, has moved to withdraw its bankruptcy filing, two years to the day after seeking relief to address sexual abuse claims. In a Sept. 30 statement, Bishop John McDermott cited a lack of progress in the case, mounting legal fees, and the recent “adversarial” move by the creditors’ committee to include parishes and schools in the settlement. The case highlights both the significant expense of Chapter 11 filings by dioceses and the question of how far parishes, schools, and affiliated Catholic entities may be held financially liable in settling abuse claims. Bishop McDermott lamented that the diocese and the creditors’ committee “appear far away from a resolution that will compensate the claimants and allow the Diocese to rebuild and move forward into the future.” He noted that diocesan legal and administrative expenses in the proceedings are currently “well more than two million dollars,” with “not one dollar” of the funds so far awarded “to a single claimant.”
Zeale
France devolves into ‘urban violence’ under migrant-student riots
By Zeale News Team, October 5, 2026
The U.S. State Department’s consular mission in France issued a warning Oct. 5 against travel to France in light of ongoing riots and urban violence in the region — now spreading to nearby countries. “Student protests continue across France, and some protests have become violent. Marches are occurring away from school campuses. Hundreds of high schools are closed across France,” the State Department said in a travel advisory. Organizations involved in the rioting have planned a nationwide day of protests on Oct. 6, the American agency cautioned, noting that protests have often turned violent. The demonstrations began in late September, initially to protest poor school building conditions and a shortage of teachers in Paris and surrounding suburbs. However, protests devolved into violence by Sept. 28 and spread across the country. Mainstream media outlets have largely remained silent on the rioting.
Related: French bishop condemns ‘destructive’ protest violence, urges peaceful dialogue, By Tyler Arnold, EWTN News, October 5, 2026
EWTN News
St. Louis Archdiocese sues for limited sacraments to ICE detainees
By Madalaine Elhabbal, October 5, 2026
The Archdiocese of St. Louis is challenging an immigration detention center’s visitation policies it says prevent Catholic detainees from receiving the sacraments, after a jail official suggested: “clergy pass communion in a plastic bag to a prison guard who could then deliver it to the detainee.” The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 5 by Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski and Father Christopher Schroeder of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, claims that Ste. Genevieve County Detention Center’s no-contact policy bars clergy from ministering to detainees while making exceptions for nonreligious visitors. The archdiocese said in an Oct. 5 press release and in the filing that it asked the facility to accommodate clergy seeking to provide sacraments to detainees, but facility officials refused. “That refusal is troubling, given that other individuals—including lawyers and consular officials—are permitted to visit detained individuals under much more permissive circumstances,” the archdiocese said in the release.
CBCP News
Kalibo’s bishop warns about dangers in new casino in Boracay
By Bishop Cyril Villareal, October 4, 2026
Boracay is a precious gift entrusted to us. It provides a livelihood to thousands of families and welcomes people from many parts of our country and the world. Its development should therefore be measured not only by economic activity and revenues, but also by its effects on human life, family relationships, the poor and vulnerable, and the moral and social fabric of our communities. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in paragraph 2413, teaches that games of chance and wagers are not in themselves contrary to justice. However, it warns that gambling becomes morally unacceptable when it deprives a person of what is necessary for his or her own needs or for the needs of others. It also gives this serious warning: “the passion for gambling risks becoming an enslavement.” Our concern also includes the concrete consequences gambling can bring to individuals, families, and society. Gambling can lead to financial distress and debt.
Fides News Agency
100 years since first ordination of Chinese bishops in modern era
By Fides News Agency, October 7, 2026
On May 7, 1926, the Apostolic Vicariate of Fenyang was separated from the Apostolic Vicariate of Taiyuan, which was administered by the Italian Franciscans. In 1925, the Vicariate was divided into three deaneries. It had 35,187 baptized Catholics and 48 priests, 26 of whom were foreigners and 22 Chinese. The Chinese clergy therefore accounted for 46%. At the time of its establishment, the Apostolic Vicariate of Fenyang had 11,492 baptized Catholics and 17 Chinese priests, including the Apostolic Vicar. On April 11, 1946, the Apostolic Vicariate of Fenyang was raised to the rank of a Diocese. In 1949, the Diocese of Fenyang comprised 15 counties. The first bishop of the Apostolic Vicariate of Fenyang was Aloysius Chen Guodi (1875–1930), a member of the Order of Friars Minor.
National Catholic Register
Leo XIV’s recent appointment signals change to old guard
By Andrea Gagliarducci, October 5, 2026
The appointment of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, Italy, represents the first real personnel change of Leo XIV’s pontificate. Cardinal Gambetti became archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2021 and has completed his five-year term. He could have been reappointed. He could have been assigned to another position in the Vatican, but he hasn’t. It’s ironic to think that Archbishop Forte seemed, at the beginning of Pope Francis’ pontificate, a rising star, special secretary of the Synod on the Family and author, among other things, of a controversial text during the 2014 synod session that opened the door to welcoming homosexuals. Taking his place is one of the cardinals who, more than any other, has embodied Pope Francis’ modus gubernandi (“mode of governance”). Cardinal Gambetti was created a cardinal in the 2020 consistory, but held no office until February 2021, when he became archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, replacing Cardinal Angelo Comastri.
The Pillar
Our Lady took center stage in heated Brazilian election
By Filipe d’Avillez, October 5, 2026
Brazil’s presidential election campaign took a bizarre turn last week, with controversy over the official status of the country’s patron saint—Our Lady Aparecida—winding up in court. Incumbent president Lula da Silva’s supporters began by accusing challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, son of jailed former president Jair Bolsonaro, of plotting to demote Our Lady of Aparecida from her legal status as Brazil’s patron saint. The controversy resonated strongly in what is still the largest Catholic country in the world in demographic terms, even as the number of Evangelicals in the country has increased greatly over the past decades. According to the 2022 census, 56.7% of Brazilians identify as Catholic, with Evangelicals at 26.9. That represents a drop from 65.1% of self-identified Catholics in 2010, while self-identified Evangelicals rose from 21.6%. Politically, Catholic and Evangelical voting intentions form almost a mirror image: 50% of Catholics and 26% of Evangelicals said they would vote for Lula, and 52% of Evangelicals and 32% of Catholics said they would vote for Bolsonaro.
Crux
White Sox are in the playoffs: Must we support Pope Leo’s team?
By Charles Collins, October 5, 2026
Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago native, and the White Sox are his team. But this may be causing emotional turmoil: The pontiff is the supreme head of the Church, and some fans may wonder whether that makes his baseball preferences binding. Do you have to support his team, even if you are not in Chicago? For fans in Chicago, it is even more difficult: The city has two teams, and White Sox fans have a fierce rivalry with the Chicago Cubs. Is it a sin to hope the White Sox go down, and even hope they’re humiliated in the playoffs? “For there to be a penalty, there must be a crime, or in the Church’s system, what’s usually called a delict. These delicts are specified with corresponding penalties, and being a Cubs fan simply is not a delict at all, much less one punished with such a serious measure as excommunication,” said Michael Dunnigan is an associate professor of canon law at Saint Meinrad Seminary. He added, [smirking may have been involved], “When we get to things like the pope’s favorite teams, that’s a personal preference. It’s not something that’s required.”
Keep informed - 10/6/26 news for Catholics
Snippets: Pulpit, EWTN, & Aleteia
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards’ Catholic blogger site: October 6, 2026
The Big Pulpit website is an intelligent news aggregator offering insights and analysis on the Catholic Church worldwide. Here are Chief Editor Tito Edwards’ top recommendations for today.
Video: Can a Person Have More Than One Guardian Angel? – Fr. Robert J. McTeigue, S.J., Ph.D.
Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, who had a Hidden Supernatural Gift – Dawn Marie Beutner
How the Mass Helped to Shape Western Civilization – Dr. Gregory Slysz at Catholic World Report
Historical Amnesia on Death Penalty Shouldn’t be an Attribute of Today’s Church – Don McClarey
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — October 6, 2026
EWTN News 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.
Historic Catholic parish in Alabama marks 100 years with ecumenical tent revival - By Francesca Pollio Fenton - Our Mother of Mercy Parish in Africatown celebrates 100 years of faith with an ecumenical revival bringing nearly 500 Christians together.
Argentine auxiliary bishop removed from office following allegations by 2 adults - By David Ramos - The prelate was barred from receiving formal appointments or new offices and from administering the sacrament of penance for five years. He may celebrate Mass and administer the other sacraments.
Red Mass marks opening of Supreme Court term in Washington - By Emma R.C. Lyons - Hosted by The John Carroll Society, the Red Mass drew more than 1,000 people, including Supreme Court justices, public officials, and Vice President JD Vance, to mark the opening of the judiciary term and pray for judges, attorneys, diplomats, and government leaders. The name derives from the red color of the archbishops’, cardinals’, and priests’ vestments.
Aleteia
Aleteia’s global network reports for October 6, 2026
Aleteia (aleteia.org) is an online publication distributed in six languages (English, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and Slovenian). Launched in 2013, it is one of the world’s leading news websites with content free from ideological influences.
Leo XIV writes prologue for new YouCat on love and marriage - The Pope wrote the foreword to YouCat: Love Forever, a catechism aimed at young people preparing for marriage, due for release in November. The text offers the Pope's most extended public reflection to date on human love, marriage, and the vocation to which the Church calls young people.
These 400 Catholic entrepreneurs choose faith and excellence - What happens when Catholics committed to renewing culture excel in the business world? SENT entrepreneurs find a way to keep focus on Christ, a community for Catholic business leaders that aims to be “a movement of Catholic entrepreneurs using business to renew culture.”
Gaza Christians, Pope mourn deaths of mother, daughter in Israeli air strike - Two Christian women were among five killed and many injured in an early morning strike on a Gaza City. No warnings preceded the strike, which Israeli military sources said was targeted to kill Ali al-Amoudi, a reported Hamas political director, who was said to have been seen at the apartment.
October 6, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE - or read HERE:
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Dominica
Carthusians explain scripture’s ‘seduction’ verse in Jeremiah
By Br. Tyler Miclean, O.P., October 6, 2026
You have seduced me, Lord, and I let myself be seduced. (Jer 20:7) This verse, along with other selections, appears between scenes in Philip Gröning’s Into Great Silence. The documentary follows the Carthusian monks at La Grande Chartreuse Monastery in France. The prophet Jeremiah’s words appear not once but repeatedly across the film, predominant among the other selections, if memory serves, received like a whisper, breaching the heavy silence of the dark chapel, from a heart overwhelmed by contemplation of Christ. Each time, the impression deepens. This is Jeremiah’s lament, that he did not resist Almighty God, nor his call to speak against idolatrous Judah; and for it, the Lord has made him an enemy to his kinsmen and a laughingstock. The Carthusian Order’s website appropriates the initial “seduction” verse, articulating that “God calls freely whom he wishes. It is an intimate invitation to share his whole life with him, to follow him closely. This is sometimes unavoidable and radical.”
Missio Dei Catholic
And then everything stopped
By Deacon Michael Halbrook, October 6, 2026
Paul begins his letter to the Galatians with the less-than-stellar aspects of his autobiography: “You heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it …” He is describing himself as a man who was extraordinarily busy with the most serious business he knew: the defense of his ancestral faith, the purity of the tradition, the elimination of what he believed to be a dangerous deviation. He pursued these things with a zealot’s ferocity. Every action had justification. And then everything stopped. The revelation on the road to Damascus did not redirect his energy. It interrupted it entirely. And what follows in Paul’s account is not immediately a new burst of activity — it is years of quiet.
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
Welborn Hope: The ‘tramp poet’ of Oklahoma
By James K. Hanna, October 2, 2026
Welborn Hope (1902-1988) was born in Ada, Oklahoma, into a comfortable home, the son of affluent parents. At eighteen he graduated from East Central State Teachers College, received a pharmacy license and worked at a drug store in Ada co-owned by his father. His first poem was published at age seven in the local newspaper. While working at the drug store, he continued to write and had several poems published between 1932 and 1935 in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. Hope was 67 years old when “Guy Logsdon, another Ada native, collected enough of Hope's poems to publish The Great River and the Small and Other Poems in 1970. That year, Tulsa's mayor honored Hope with "Welborn Hope, Oklahoma Tramp Poet Day." Hope had expanded the term “tramp poet” to include minstrels and traveling players. “In the event's publicity, Hope explained that Walt Whitman, Vachel Lindsay, and French poet Arthur Rimbaud were not ashamed to be tramp poets.”
Catholic Stand
Can we resist the will of God?
By Sara Grace, October 6, 2026
Everything that occurs is according to God’s will. We come, and we go. We receive riches and poverty. We have food, and we have famine. We are as grass, flourishing as a flower of the field, and the wind passes over it, and we are gone (Psalm 103:15-16). In everything that occurs, we are to look to God and trust Him completely. We may find ourselves in a position like Joseph. We may be abandoned by the ones we love, and we may find ourselves completely alone. However, we must follow Joseph’s example and trust God and His will. We must keep our eyes on God and trust His love for us. Perhaps we face these difficulties so God can turn them into good before our eyes and bring salvation to many people. Oh, how much God loves us. How much He wants us to go to Heaven.
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