Catholic Nutshell News: Tuesday 6/24/25
Topics include: Nigeria priest will stay put; 'Custos' of the Holy Land; End to Syro-Malabar ‘liturgy war’; & World’s first Catholic Montessori institute
“I’ll pray for thee from my pistachio tree”
Today's sources are the National Catholic Register, CNA, Aleteia, The CatholicVote, The Pillar, OSV, Big Pulpit, and George Weigel. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.
Aleteia
Nigeria: Priest stays, vows to rebuild after massacre of 200
By Daniel Esparza, June 24, 2021
Father Ukuma Jonathan, a young priest with less than two years of being ordained, has pledged to remain in Yelewata and help rebuild his shattered parish after militants killed nearly 200 Christians in one of Nigeria’s deadliest recent atrocities. According to Aid to the Church in Need, the death toll in the June 13 attack has risen to over 200, including around 20 victims whose bodies were discovered in a bush and empty building. Displaced families sheltering in the town’s market square were allegedly set ablaze — many sleeping at the time — before being attacked by gunmen shouting “Allahu Akbar.” “When we heard the shots and saw the militants, we committed our lives to God ... This morning, I thank God I am alive,” Father Jonathan shared with ACN on June 18. He described a night of terror: Congregants, including children, dropped to the floor of his presbytery as gunfire erupted outside.
The Pillar
Hopes rise for end to Syro-Malabar ‘liturgy war’
By Luke Coppen, June 23, 2025
Clergy on the front line of the dispute in India’s Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly say they have reached an agreement with the hierarchy of the Syro-Malabar Church, the second-largest of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in full communion with Rome, after the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. But local priests are wary of declaring the controversy over because previous agreements have fallen through at the last minute. They are waiting for a statement on the agreement to be released by Major Archbishop Raphael Thattil, the Syro-Malabar leader, and Archbishop Joseph Pamplany, the archiepiscopal vicar of Ernakulam-Angamaly. The clergy asked Thattil and Pamplany to publish the statement by Sunday, June 29, to read it in churches within the archeparchy, which serves half a million people in the state of Kerala — roughly 10% of the total number of Syro-Malabar Catholics worldwide.
Vatican News Service & The Custody
Pope Leo elects Fr. Francesco Lelpo as Custos of the Holy Land
By Vatican News & Commissariats Staff, June 24, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has confirmed the election — conducted by the Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor together with his Definitory — of the Most Reverend Father Francesco Ielpo, OFM, as Custos of the Holy Land and Guardian of Mount Zion. The Custody of the Holy Land is typically traced back to 1217, when the first General Chapter of the Friars Minor was held at St. Mary of the Angels, near Assisi. In an act of inspiration, Francis decided to send his Friars to all nations, to transmit the Grace of the holy places to the whole of humanity and to share their lives with the “living stones,” the local Christian communities. The world was, so to speak, divided into Franciscan "provinces," and the friars from Assisi went out to the four corners of the world. On that occasion, the Holy Land was not forgotten. The Holy Land appears among the eleven Mother Provinces of the Order. From the very beginning, it was considered to be the most important "province" of the Order.
CatholicVote
Chicago clinic advertises abortions for ‘all trimesters’
By Rachel Quackenbush, June 23, 2025
A Chicago facility is now offering abortions in the third trimester, making Illinois one of the few places in the country where unborn children can be aborted up to approximately 34 weeks, the Chicago Tribune reported. Hope Clinic, a long-standing abortion provider based in southern Illinois, opened a second location on June 2 in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. It is now the only independent facility in the Midwest to perform abortions at such a late stage in pregnancy. The organization announced its new location on Instagram with enthusiasm, noting the expansion of its services. “Hope Clinic is now open in Chicago, IL, expanding our care through all trimesters! (And OMG we couldn’t be more excited),” the post read. Illinois law currently allows abortion past fetal viability — 24 to 28 weeks — if necessary to protect the life or health of the mother, including mental health.
National Catholic Register
Ireland’s national consecration draws thousands to Knock Shrine
By Bénédicte Cedergren, June 23, 2025
Archbishop Eamon Martin renewed Ireland’s consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Sunday, “to secure refuge from all dangers, visible and invisible” — 152 years after the Emerald Isle’s first consecration. The primate of All Ireland presided over the Mass at the Eucharistic and Marian pilgrimage site of Knock — where a Marian apparition took place in August 1879 — on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. “We are living in a time of great need for God,” Archbishop Martin told the Register, “for faith, for hope, and for love. Our age presents many challenges to our faith, to our families and, indeed, to the deepest core of our humanity.” Rafaella Ganley, 30, who assisted in organizing the event, said it is “a turning point for Ireland… We have been through so much over the past few years, especially with the abortion referendum, and all this secularism eating up the soul of Ireland. It’s been absolutely brutal to witness.”
Catholic News Agency
UMary launches world’s first Catholic Montessori institute
By Kate Quiñones, June 24, 2025
The University of Mary has launched the world’s first Catholic Montessori Institute (CMI), making the institute the go-to place for certification in Catholic Montessori education. Montessori has gained popularity in both secular and religious settings since its founding by Dr. Maria Montessori (1870–1952), a practicing Catholic who developed a method of teaching young children about God according to their individual needs. University of Mary, a small liberal arts college in North Dakota, will serve as the home for the new institute, which organizers hope will become the center of Catholic Montessori education. Schulzetenberg, who has spent more than 20 years as a Montessori practitioner, said she hopes the program will bring new life to Catholic education. Montessori education prioritizes holistic development, emotional and cognitive growth, intrinsic motivation, community engagement, and global citizenship, according to Schulzetenberg.
Catholic News Agency
Bishop Barron responds to criticism over, ‘… let’s invade that space’
By Madalaine Elhabbal, June 23, 2025
Bishop Robert Barron responded to backlash against his participation in the President Donald Trump-initiated Religious Liberty Commission. Its first meeting was in Washington, D.C. last week. Claims by Minneapolis Star-Tribune columnist Karen Tolkkinen said Barron “advocates erasing the boundaries between church and state.” Barron called the piece “a rather silly article… a gross mischaracterization of my position.” Barron encouraged people of faith to enter the public sphere. “Congress will make no laws preventing it, so let’s invade that space.” Tolkkinen took issue with this, describing Barron’s encouragement as “unnecessarily militant” and religion’s “comeback in American civic life” as “difficult to understand” at a time when “Americans increasingly don’t practice religion.” Bishop Barron said, “Though there can never be an official American religion, there can indeed be expressions of religion in the public space and in civic life.”
Catholic Culture
On immigration, ‘the US bishops see only one side’
By Phil Lawler, June 19, 2025
Looking at the Trump administration’s efforts to enforce US immigration laws, and the sometimes violent reactions, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, speaking as president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) perceives “a profound social crisis before which no person of good will can remain silent.” when the border was most porous, the USCCB and Catholic Charities and dozens of local Catholic organizations were taking in millions of dollars in government contracts to “resettle” the immigrants. Did they complain then about the evident flaws of the immigration system? Now that public protests have become organized—and several, violent— Broglio informs us the immigration system is dysfunctional. Insofar as his statement is critical of the Trump administration’s enforcement drive, he is making a political judgment, a prudential judgment, on which good Catholics can and do differ.
From Pulpit & Agency to Satire for 6/23/25
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards Catholic blogger site: June 23, 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.
I Trust That There are Plenty More to Come; Re: Leo – Don McClarey at The American Catholic
Rip Down the Pride Flag – Garrett D. Johnson at Crisis Magazine
I Love Pope Leo XIV. . . – Mary O’Regan at Mary’s Blog
Trump the Peacemaker: Iran & Israel to Officially End Conflict – Donald R. McClarey, J.D.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — June 24, 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 happenings of the Holy See to anyone with internet access.
German archdiocese faces backlash over sexuality education framework - Jun 24, 2025 - By Alexander Folz - The document is scheduled for implementation across all 15 Catholic school locations in Hamburg, beginning with the 2026-2027 school year.
CNA explains: How the Catholic view of human rights developed - Jun 24, 2025 - By Jonah McKeown - The concept of human rights within Catholic teaching is not a recent addition but rather has roots extending back to the Church’s constant teaching on human dignity.
Justice Department sues Washington state over law forcing priests to break confession seal - Jun 23, 2025 - By Amira Abuzeid - The DOJ in a press release announcing the lawsuit filed on June 23 said the Washington law “violates the free exercise of religion for all Catholics.”
Babylon Bee - Satire News
Everyone Was Wrong: God Confirms Book Of Revelation Was Actually About The War Of 1812
By Theology Staff, June 23, 2025
Theologians announced a startling discovery. Everyone has been wrong about the book of Revelation for thousands of years. While many assumed it referred to the end times, the tribulation, and the Second Coming, it now appears to have been written entirely about the War of 1812. "I was sure bombing Iran would trigger a nuclear attack on Jerusalem, which would clear the Temple Mount and make way for the construction of a third temple," said Dr. Garry Klearborn, a theological professor at Cambridge. "But I guess it was about The War of 1812 all along." "All of Revelation is fulfilled in The Battle of the Thames in what is now Thamesville, Ontario, Canada," Dr. Tedward Liddendale said. "It all fits," said Calvary Chapel Pastor Jack Hibbs. "How could I have been so wrong?" With Revelation now perfectly understood, theologians returned to Ezekiel to figure out what the heck he was talking about.
Nutshell reflections for 6/23/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection AUDIO - June 23, 2025
Solemnity of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist
Our Sunday Visitor
Offer your gifts back to God in gratitude
By Allison DeBoer-Ramirez, June 23, 2025
Everything we have is a gift, something not guaranteed — the breath in our lungs, the sunrise over a new day, our loved ones, profession, health and home — yet how often do we consciously call to mind and express gratitude for all that we have in a tangible way? When we allow ourselves to experience deep and authentic gratitude, this is not a stagnant feeling, but one where we naturally want to give back. We want to bring about something good for all that has been given to us. In other words, we desire to co-create with God in blessing the world around us. Co-creation can look like prayerfully and intentionally baking pies to nourish new neighbors. Co-creation is building or working with your hands, or it can be lovingly listening and creating a place of understanding and safety for another. St. Gianna Molla lived by some powerful words regarding gratitude: “The secret to happiness is to live moment by moment and to thank God for what he is sending us every day in his goodness.”
Now Word
Rwanda’s warning was not heeded
By Mark Mallett, June 20, 2016
In what is now a Church-approved apparition from Our Lady of Kibeho, the young seers of Kibeho, Rwanda saw in graphic detail — some 12 years before it occurred — the genocide that would eventually take place there. They conveyed Our Lady’s message of the call to repentance so as to avert catastrophe… but the message was not heeded. Most ominously, the seers reported that Mary’s appeal “…is not directed to only one person nor does it concern only the current time; it is directed to everyone in the entire world (www.kibeho.org). For years, Our Lady has been repeatedly warning that we need to take her cries seriously. Hundreds of statues and icons around the world have wept, not only fragrant oil, but blood. [2] She has called us to open our hearts to Jesus, close the door to sin, and to fast and pray, especially the Rosary.
Related: Meet Our Lady of Kibeho: The only approved Marian apparition in Africa, CNA, By Katie Yoder, July 19, 2021
Catholic Mom
Our names are important
By Cathi Kennedy, June 24, 2025
Zechariah the Baptist doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it? Our names are important. I’ve often said that my Protestant parents foresaw my future when they gave me quite a Catholic name at birth: Catherine Marie. My conversion was inevitable. Zechariah and Elizabeth were given a great gift, a son they believed they would never have. When the angel appeared to Zechariah, he told him that his son’s future would be “great in the sight of the Lord” and that his name would be John.
And they were faithful to their end of the deal. This son, this beautiful gift from God, changed their life. I couldn’t have foreseen the men our boys would grow to be. Whatever I could have planned for them, God’s plans were better, bigger, and full of His goodness. I want to impart my wisdom and plans because I know what’s best, except I don’t. I can never love them as much as God loves them.
GeorgeWeigel.com
Schooling: ‘Public’ does not mean ‘State’ or ‘Government’
By George Weigel, June 18, 2025
In its recent non-decision, St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic School v. Drummond, the U.S. Supreme Court let stand an obtuse Oklahoma Supreme Court ruling that excluded St. Isidore’s from the state charter school program. Notre Dame Law Professor Richard Garnett, in a fine article at Law & Liberty, explains why the Oklahoma Supremes got it wrong: “The First Amendment’s prohibition on religious ‘establishments’ does not preclude cooperation between secular governments, on the one hand, and religious institutions, on the other. Such cooperation, the Court has recognized, is deeply rooted in our history, is ubiquitous in public policy today, and serves well the common good of our communities.” The virtual monopoly on tax dollars enjoyed by state-run schools in the United States is supported by a corruption of language. Consider the ubiquitous term “public schools.” The far more accurate designator would be “state schools.”
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