Catholic Nutshell News: Tuesday 11/4/25
Topics include: Vatican nixes ‘Co-Redemptrix’ for Mary; Threat of U.S. Military in Nigeria; Cupich again defends Senator Durbin; & Louisiana diocese files for bankruptcy
“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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Catholic News Agency
Vatican nixes ‘Co-Redemptrix,’ ‘Mediatrix’ as titles for Mary
By Hannah Brockhaus, November 4, 2025
The Vatican’s doctrinal office said Tuesday the titles of “Co-Redemptrix” and “Mediatrix” are not appropriate ways to describe Mary’s participation in salvation. In Mater Populi Fidelis (“The Mother of the Faithful People of God”), the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) said that when an expression requires frequent explanation to maintain the correct meaning, it becomes unhelpful. “In this case, the expression ‘co-redemptrix’ does not help extol Mary as the first and foremost collaborator in the work of redemption and grace, for it carries the risk of eclipsing the exclusive role of Jesus Christ,” according to the doctrinal note, released Nov. 4. Pope Leo XIV approved the document, signed by DDF prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, on Oct. 7. The cardinal wrote that some Marian devotions, expressed “intensely through social media,” can sow confusion among Catholics.
Related: Vatican reaffirms Catholic understanding of Mary, Mother of God, by Crux Staff, Nov 4, 2025
ACI Africa
U.S. military will act if Nigeria fails to end religious persecution
By Madalaine Elhabbal, November 3, 2025
“If the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may very well go into that now-disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said in a social media post Nov. 1. The commander-in-chief further revealed he has instructed the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action.” Under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the U.S president must designate countries that engage in or tolerate “particularly severe violations of religious freedom” as CPCs. Violations include torture, prolonged detention without charges, and forced disappearence, according to the State Department.
Related: Christian Professionals in Africa Condemn Persecution of Christians in Nigeria, Call for Government Action, By Jude Atemanke, 03 November, 2025 (ACI Africa).
Related: Catholic Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va. cites evidence of Nigeria’s Christian genocide - He challenged claims of religious tolerance in Nigeria — since 2009, 50,000 to 100,000 Christians have been slaughtered, Elise Winland, November 3, 2025 (CatholicVote)
The Pillar
Cardinal Blase Cupich again defends Senator Dick Durbin
By Michelle La Rosa, November 3, 2025
Cardinal Blase Cupich again defended the Archdiocese of Chicago’s attempt to grant a lifetime achievement award to Senator Dick Durbin, saying that doing so was an attempt to show migrants facing deportation as a pro-life issue. “Catholics need to come together to defend all the threats to human life and dignity,” he said. “Our defense of the unborn, the innocent unborn, needs to be clear, firm, and passionate. But equally sacred are the lives of the poor. Those already born, the destitute, the abandoned, and the underprivileged, the vulnerable infirm and elderly exposed to covert euthanasia, the victims of human trafficking, new forms of slavery, and every form of rejection.” The announcement quickly drew criticism from Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield. He expressed “shock” over the decision, saying that a Catholic recognition of Durbin would cause “grave scandal.”
Times of Israel
UN resolution grants US & partners the mandate to govern Gaza
By ToI Staff, November 4, 2025
The Trump administration’s draft United Nations Security Council resolution on establishing an international force in Gaza would reportedly give the US and other participating countries a broad two-year mandate to govern Gaza and be in charge of security there. The force’s mandate will apparently include disarming Hamas, with the draft saying that the ISF will “stabilize the security environment in Gaza by ensuring the process of demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, including the destruction and prevention of rebuilding of military, terror, and offensive infrastructure, as well as the permanent decommissioning of weapons from non-state armed groups.” President Donald Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace” would have the powers of “a transitional governance administration … until such time as the Palestinian Authority has satisfactorily completed its reform program.”
CatholicVote
Louisiana diocese files for bankruptcy due to abuse claims
By Hannah Hiester, November 3, 2025
The Diocese of Alexandria, Louisiana, announced Oct. 31 that it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to equitably compensate survivors of clergy sex abuse. Bishop Robert Marshall stated in a letter to parishioners that the diocese had decided to file for bankruptcy after careful consideration, describing it as “the most prudent course of action.” He wrote that due to past instances of clergy sex abuse, there are claims against the diocese that it does not have sufficient funds to settle. “Chapter 11 will allow the diocese to use available funds to compensate all abuse survivors with unresolved claims in a single process overseen by a court, ensuring that all are treated equitably,” he wrote. “Second, by serving as a final call for legal claims against the diocese, the proceeding will allow the Church to move forward on stable financial ground, focused on its Gospel mission.”
OSV News
Fr. Mike Schmitz’s new podcast covers ‘The Imitation of Christ’
By Lauretta Brown, October 23, 2025
A centuries-old devotional book, said to be the second most circulated in the history of Christianity after the Bible, is, perhaps fittingly, the work that Father Mike Schmitz of “The Bible in a Year” fame had long hoped to focus on in a podcast. Because of the book’s significance in his own life, he was eager to bring “The Imitation of Christ” to people in an approachable way. Father Mike told OSV News that he felt fortunate when he was chosen to host the fourth season of the “Catholic Classics” podcast, which focuses on the 15th-century spiritual classic. “One of the reasons I think that people get stopped on it is because it’s so dense,” he said, “you could take one line and reflect on it for a couple [of] weeks.” The new podcast, which premiered on Oct. 22 and is available for free on the Ascension app, guides readers through “The Imitation of Christ” over 30 days.
CRUX
Halloween parade float with an Auschwitz sign condemned
By Mark Scolforo (AP), November 4, 2025
Jewish and Catholic faith leaders condemned a Halloween parade float that carried a replica of the gate to the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. The designer behind it apologized, saying he made it “with no ill intent.” The replica gate, topped with the sign, “Arbeit macht frei” (work will set you free), was included on the float made for Saint Joseph Catholic School in Hanover for a parade. Hanover is 50 miles northwest of Baltimore. Nazi German forces murdered over a million people at the Auschwitz site in southern Poland between 1940 and 1945. Most of their victims were Jews killed on an industrial scale in gas chambers, but victims also included Poles, Roma, Soviet prisoners of war, gay people, and others. Matthew Jackson, a Hanover resident and longtime advocate for equality and social justice, said, “I think a lot of people didn’t know what it meant. But that doesn’t take away the harm of it.”
National Catholic Register
S.F. Archbishop says state officials lied about Serra statue
By Matthew McDonald, November 4, 2025
California state officials who reportedly have said they informed San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone about their intention to remove a 22-foot-high statue of St. Junípero Serra from a rest area off Interstate 280 aren’t telling the truth, the archbishop told the Register. “They said they spoke to religious organizations, but they didn’t speak to us. They didn’t get our input in it, and we’re the ones most affected by it,” Archbishop Cordileone said in an interview. The statue, which the state removed in August, commemorated Serra (1713-1784), a Spanish Franciscan priest who founded missions to spread the Catholic faith to indigenous peoples throughout California. Asked by the Register about the claim that state officials informed him, Archbishop Cordileone replied: “That didn’t happen … my repeated experience with institutions in California when they’re dealing with the Church, is they lie to us, they discriminate against us.”
From Pulpit & CNA to Fides for 11/4/25
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards Catholic blogger site: November 4, 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.
Who are the People in Pope Leo XIV’s Inner Circle? – Anna Kurian at Aleteia
New Yorkers Reject Socialism. . . Enthusiastically! – J.P. Fabrizio at Tradition, Family, & Property
Whoa! Now That’s A Paschal Candle! – Fr. Allan J. McDonald at Southern Orders
Face It: Some People Really Hate J.R.R. Tolkien – Terry Mattingly at Rational Sheep
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — November 4, 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.
Image of Argentina’s patroness destroyed, chapel burned down - Nov 4, 2025 - By Julieta Villar - The destruction of an image of Our Lady of Luján, the patroness of Argentina, and the burning of a chapel have shocked two communities in Argentina. Authorities are currently investigating the acts of vandalism.
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy takes book about Jesus to prison with him - Nov 4, 2025 - By Victoria Cardiel - On Oct. 21, Nicolas Sarkozy became the first former French president to walk through a prison gate to begin serving five years for campaign finance conspiracy.
Catholic schools fare better in states with voucher programs - Nov 4, 2025 - By Amira Abuzeid - Catholic schools are faring much better in dioceses in which state-funded voucher programs are available for parents to use.
Agenzia Fides
Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies - 11/4/25
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.
AFRICA/SUDAN - Concern for thousands of civilians missing in El Fasher - Khartoum (Agenzia Fides) – Tens of thousands of civilians who fled El Fasher are currently considered missing. Humanitarian organizations operating in the Tawila refugee camp, about 50 km from the city, which was captured.
ASIA/INDIA - The initiative of Christians in Kolkata: to give dignified burials to the outcasts - Kolkata (Agenzia Fides) – Giving dignity to people even at the moment of death, through the work of mercy of “burying the dead,” has been the spirit that has inspired the Christian community of Kolkata.
ASIA/INDONESIA - Missionary October and the fight against malnutrition - Jakarta (Agenzia Fides) – The Missionary month of October in Indonesia’s vast archipelago was marked by two initiatives for young people and young adults, both coordinated by the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS).
Nutshell reflections for 11/4/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - November 4, 2025
Memorial of Saint Charles Borromeo, Bishop
Aleteia
St. Ezequiel Moreno: Hope for those facing cancer
By Daniel Esparza, November 2, 2025
In a quiet convent in Monteagudo, Spain, St. Ezequiel Moreno breathed his last on August 19, 1906. The pain that ended his life — cancer — would later become the very reason many turn to him for comfort and healing. A missionary, bishop, and spiritual father, he is now venerated as a patron saint of those who suffer from cancer, a title born from his own suffering and his intercession in the lives of others. Pain can be a school of love,” he once said to a friend, “when it is offered with faith.” It was after his death that the first reports of healing through his intercession began to spread, particularly among cancer patients. Years later, the Church would recognize her healing as the miracle that confirmed his canonization by Saint John Paul II in 1992.
Imaginative Conservative
C.S. Lewis: Setting the record straight
By James Como, November 2, 2025
Amidst the general condescension we hear, for example, that Tolkien was Lewis’s “occasional academic rival,” a claim not only without foundation but with ample evidence to the contrary. Very possibly, we would not have The Lord of the Rings but for Lewis’s encouragement, according to Tolkien, and unbeknownst to Lewis, it was Tolkien who engineered Lewis’s invitation to occupy the professorial chair created for him at Cambridge. And, oh, as for Lewis not liking children: Lewis not only did not avoid the evacuees placed in his home during the Blitz, but he also spent many hours tutoring one very backward child. Another, eventually a lifelong friend, has written, “living with Lewis was like having one’s own private tutor… he built up my confidence… and my ability to think…. I left with a belief that I was of value.” At his most popular, C.S. Lewis received nearly two thousand letters a week, and he answered all of them.
Catholic Mom
Hope in the Church’s teaching about purgatory
By Bonnie Drury, November 4, 2025
The Catholic Church dedicates November to the faithful departed, including those who are still in purgatory. This is important in our church family, which includes the Church militant (earth), the Church suffering (purgatory), and the Church triumphant (Heaven). I have a very personal reason to be anxious about what is to come after death. Our 25-year-old grandson committed suicide a few years ago. The loss was so devastating that his father and I still haven’t spoken about it. Jake was the neatest, sweetest, funniest kid, always so enthusiastic about life, until drugs engulfed his world. We cannot know what was in the mind and heart of anyone who takes their own life. We also do not know the full extent of Christ’s Divine Mercy. I picture Jesus waiting for each soul and asking, “Do you love Me?” just like He asked Peter, giving him three chances to respond. I know in my heart that Jake would say yes.
Catholic Stand
Mystery and the value of suffering
By Fr. Nathaniel Dreyer, November 2, 2025
In his work, “On Free Choice of the Will,” Augustine touches upon the suffering of children. He notes that children before the age of reason are not capable of sinning. Why then should they have to suffer? Indeed, Augustine places the following question on the lips of people who see these young ones suffer: “What evil have they done so as to suffer these things?” Augustine’s answer is blunt. He says, “Since God accomplishes some good in correcting adults when they are scourged by the sufferings and death of their young children, who are dear to them, why should those things not happen?” To say that the melting of our hard hearts needs to come from innocent suffering seems extreme. Elie Wiesel, the 1986 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, said, “Suffering gives man no privileges; it all depends on what he does with it. If he uses his suffering against man, he betrays it; if he uses it to fight evil and humanize destiny, then he elevates it and elevates himself.”
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