Catholic Nutshell News: Tuesday 7/21/26
Catholics should know: Attacks on human dignity; Abortion-pill group ‘Plan C’; Expanded availability of Traditional Latin Masses; & Surge of young adults cutting family ties
“I’ll pray for thee from my pistachio tree”
Your 5-minute Catholic briefing for busy faithful. Today's sources are OSV News, EWTN, First Things, Big Pulpit, Aleteia, and The Pillar. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise their Catholic News Muscle)
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Our Sunday Visitor
Attacks on human dignity can never be normalized
By Gina Christian, July 20, 2026
Two U.S. Catholic bishops lament recent deadly immigration enforcement encounters, calling for God-given human dignity to be respected in every individual. “As Catholics, we believe that all persons are created in the image and likeness of God and, therefore, grieve all situations where human life is brought to an unnatural end. This is a core teaching of our faith and one we can never grow weary of proclaiming as disciples of Our Lord Jesus Christ,” said Bishop Daniel E. Garcia of Austin, Texas, and Bishop Brendan J. Cahill of Victoria, Texas. The two issued a July 20 joint pastoral reflection as chairs, respectively, of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops‘ Subcommittee for the Promotion of Racial Justice and Reconciliation and the USCCB’s Committee on Migration. Their statement follows three separate deaths recorded days apart in July amid operations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as they implement a hardline crackdown on immigration.
Zeale
Abortion-pill group ‘Plan C’ referred to DOJ for criminal investigation
By Zeale News, July 20, 2026
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., has referred abortion-pill organization Plan C to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation, alleging that the group helps coordinate an international operation mailing abortion drugs into states where locally enacted pro-life laws forbid their distribution. “Senator Hawley deserves praise for further exposing what we already know,” said CatholicVote Director of Government Affairs Tom McClusky. “Those pushing the abortion drug don’t do it to protect women, just the opposite: they do it because they love abortion. It is two years past time that the Trump administration hold these lawbreakers accountable.” Hawley described Plan C as a “left-wing dark-money operation” that presents itself as a public-health information campaign but serves in practice as a “referral and logistics hub” for shipping abortion drugs into states whose laws prohibit it.
EWTN News
‘Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism’ expands to colleges
By Madalaine Elhabbal, July 21, 2026
The Coalition of Catholics Against Antisemitism (CCAA) will soon launch its first college chapter at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. The chapter, set to start in fall 2026, marks continued growth for the Coalition, founded in October 2023 at a Franciscan University conference on “Nostra Aetate and the Future of Catholic‑Jewish Relations at a Time of Rising Antisemitism.” “The CCAA is proud that Franciscan University serves as the founding Catholic home of the Coalition,” Simone Rizkallah, founding member of CCAA and manager of Jewish-Christian partnerships at the Tikvah Fund, an influential Jewish think tank, told EWTN News. She said CCAA is open to adding more chapters at other colleges and universities, to the extent student leaders elsewhere also take the initiative to do so.
CBCP News
Manila exorcism office to host conference on spiritual warfare
By CBCP News, July 16, 2026
A conference on exorcism next month in Makati City aims to help Catholics better understand spiritual warfare through Church teaching and pastoral ministry. The conference, titled “Spiritual Warfare: How to Heal and Prevent Demonic Attacks,” will be held Aug. 8 from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Mary, Mother of Hope Chapel on the fifth floor of Landmark Makati. Organized by the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Exorcism and the Philippine Association of Catholic Exorcists, the conference will feature Companions of the Cross Fr. Carlos Martins, an exorcist and international speaker. “For nearly two decades, he has faithfully served the Church through the ministry of exorcism, helping people encounter the healing and liberating power of Jesus Christ,” organizers said. Martins, founder of Treasures of the Church, hosts “The Exorcist Files” podcast and wrote the bestselling book of the same title, highlighting the Church’s teaching on spiritual warfare and Christ’s victory over evil.
National Catholic Register
Surge of young adults cutting ties with family
By Gemma Flores, July 20, 2026
“No contact.” It’s a short phrase signifying a painful process wherein people completely cut themselves off from loved ones who they believe have hurt them. It’s also the subject of best-selling author Noelle Mering’s upcoming book, No Contact: How a Seductive Ideology Broke Families and Friendships and How We Can Repair Them. Mering explores the increasing number of people who have stopped speaking with parents, family members and friends, often over politics or religion. While the exact number of “no contact” cases is difficult to measure, Google searches for the related term “family estrangement” have surged since 2021, indicating the practice’s growing prevalence. Mering is less focused on individual cases of family estrangement than she is on the role politics and ideology are playing in the broader phenomenon — and what it says about American society.
Vatican News
Nicaragua announces there will be ‘no more elections’
By Vatican News, July 21, 2026
Last year, President Daniel Ortega introduced a series of constitutional reforms that, among other measures, made his wife, Rosario Murillo, “co-president” and extended the presidential term to six years. Now comes confirmation of his intention to keep his hold on power with last Sunday’s announcement, made during the celebrations for the 47th anniversary of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution, that there will be no more elections, allowing his opponents to attempt to take control of the government. The most recent elections, held in 2021, were widely disputed after Ortega ordered the arrest of opposition figures and members of the business community and crushed dissent. Human rights organizations strongly condemned the announcement. According to Juan Sebastián Chamorro, imprisoned until his release to the United States in 2023 together with more than 200 other political prisoners, the move confirms a long-standing plan to concentrate power in the hands of the Sandinista party.
The Pillar
Scottish bishop expanded availability of Traditional Latin Masses
By Luke Coppen, July 20, 2026
Bishop Hugh Gilbert, O.S.B., of Aberdeen, Scotland has expanded the availability of Traditional Latin Masses in his diocese, ahead of an illicit episcopal consecration by a local traditionalist group. Latin Masses are offered every Sunday at the Church of Our Lady of the Garioch and St. John the Evangelist in Fetternear, a hamlet in Aberdeenshire. Members of the Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer (Transalpine Redemptorists), a traditionalist community based on Papa Stronsay, previously offered the masses once a month. Gilbert asked priests across the Aberdeen diocese to celebrate Masses using prayers for the Unity of the Church, an option in the Roman Missal’s section for “Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions.” Gilbert wrote: “Some of this can seem remote from our daily preoccupations. But at another level, this gift of Christ — the Petrine ministry alive in the pope — is vital to our faith.”
Related: Comprehensive and Detailed Analysis of the Lefebvrites by a Former Member, Now a Catholic Priest in Vienna, Zenit Staff, July 19, 2026
Zenit News
UK bars Finnish lawmaker after she posted a biblical quote
By Elizabeth Owens, July 18, 2026
The decision to bar Finnish parliamentarian Päivi Räsänen from entering the United Kingdom has added a new and troubling chapter to a saga that has already unsettled many across Europe. Her electronic travel authorization, initially approved, was revoked shortly after Finland’s Supreme Court confirmed a conviction against her for “insulting a group” in a decades‑old pamphlet on marriage and sexuality. Although she was acquitted of a separate charge related to tweeting a biblical passage, the ruling has had immediate consequences: she can no longer travel freely, including to the UK, where she had been invited to speak at a conference on freedom of expression and religion. Räsänen is a sitting member of parliament, a former Interior Minister, and a physician. She was prevented from flying through Heathrow because of her publicly stated Christian convictions. Evangelist Franklin Graham called the situation “difficult to believe,” noting that Räsänen has been prosecuted “simply for citing what the Bible says.”
Keep informed - 7/21/26 news for Catholics
Snippets: Pulpit, EWTN, & Aleteia
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards’ Catholic blogger site: July 21, 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.
Relative Poverty Versus Absolute Poverty – Genesius at Catholic Stand Magazine
“The S.S.P.X. is Protestant”: Oh Boy. . . Here We Go Again – Kennedy Hall at Mere Tradition
Young Washington: A Review – Donald R. McClarey, J.D., at The American Catholic
Video: Purgatory Story Will Forever Change How You Convert Fallen-Away Family – Unique Mary
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — July 21, 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.
Trial opens for Australian bishop accused of abusing young Aboriginal men - By EWTN News Staff - Prosecutors allege the former bishop of Broome hosted alcohol-fueled parties for young Aboriginal men at Church-owned properties. Saunders has pleaded not guilty to all 26 charges.
Pope Leo XIV urges peace and nuclear disarmament in introduction to a new book - By Ishmael Adibuah - The pontiff’s text is printed as the “Forward” of the new book “Disarmed and Disarming: Peace Is a Gift,” published by the Vatican Publishing House (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) in Italian on July 21.
Bishop Barres, Catholic sisters sue New York over assisted suicide mandates - By Tyler Arnold - The bishop said “we will never submit” to “the culture of death” as the Catholic diocese and religious sisters argue that their faith prevents them from participating in physician-assisted suicide.
Aleteia
Aleteia’s global network of experts, journalists, & contributors
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. Aleteia offers both general and religious content free from ideological influences.
How St. Thérèse can help with a big work-from-home danger - Research has just shown that the little moments of each day can make a big difference, and those who work remotely have to make an extra effort to find them. St. Thérèse’s “little way” has now been proven by science. Turns out these little moments aren’t just helping others; they help you as well.
Become a person who does new things - There’s a difference between the deep contentment of ritual patterns and being stuck in a rut. There’s always space within our daily commitments for new experiences and personal growth. The variety of life is endless. This is why life seems to be speeding past. Perhaps, if we make more time to try new things, time will slow down some.
Being less than perfect is perfectly acceptable - We are supposed to be perfect at what we do. Anything less risks being labeled a failure. Unfortunately, we too easily bring that attitude to religion, as if being Catholic comes with the assumption that we must be perfect, that is, we must be sinless. Last Sunday’s Gospel proclamation (Matthew 13:24-43) reminds us that being less than perfect is perfectly acceptable.
July 21, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE - or read HERE:
Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Aleteia
‘Nun Girl Summer’ trend is resonating far beyond social media
By Cerith Gardiner, July 21, 2026
Social media has given us some interesting trends: “Hot girl summer,” “tomato girl summer,” “brat summer” and many more microtrends than anyone can reasonably keep up with. However, this year’s surprise contender may be the most unexpected yet: “Nun Girl Summer.” Across TikTok and Instagram, young women are sharing videos about taking a break from dating, spending time in convent guesthouses, swapping endless socializing for quieter pursuits, or simply admiring the joyful lives of religious sisters online. Why has this particular trend struck such a chord? The answer, we suspect, has very little to do with fashion. If you spend a few minutes watching videos of religious sisters online, a pattern quickly emerges. They’re laughing together over meals, teasing one another, praying, singing, working, welcoming guests and somehow managing to look remarkably content while doing very ordinary things.
Missio Dei Catholic
‘Here are my mother and my brothers’
By Deacon Michael Halbrook, July 21, 2026
Someone comes to tell Jesus that his mother and brothers are outside, waiting, wishing to speak with him. The interruption carries the weight of family obligation: come out. They are here. This matters. Jesus does not go out. He says: “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” (Matthew 12:46-50) This passage has sometimes been misread as a slight against Mary. It is the opposite. Jesus is not contracting the family. He is expanding it — beyond blood, beyond tribe, beyond the boundaries that human kinship had always drawn — to include everyone who does the will of the Father. The definition he gives is not a demotion of natural family. It is a revelation of a deeper family, one that natural family was always meant to point toward. When Jesus stretches out his hand and says, "Here are my mother and my brothers," he is describing the family whose founding act was a young woman in Nazareth saying, "Let it be done to me according to your word." Mary is already inside that definition more completely than anyone else who has ever lived.
The Imaginative Conservative
The magicians of the modern age
By Gleaves Whitney, July 20, 2026
Who are the magicians of modern society? Not the stage performers, of course, but those individuals and institutions that possess the knowledge, tools, credentials, and influence to shape what millions of people believe about politics, economics, finance, technology, health, education, foreign affairs, and culture. Are we willing dupes? Like every metaphor, the card-wielding magician has limits. Yet, the trickster can serve as a type who illuminates something unsettling about our age. The forces in public life are hidden behind systems so complex that ordinary citizens cannot easily inspect them. Algorithms determine what we see. Financial instruments influence markets few understand. Statistical models guide public policy. Artificial intelligence generates clear answers by mysterious methods. Advertising campaigns shape our collective subconscious in insidious ways. And scientific findings are condensed into headlines that few have the expertise or time to evaluate.
First Things
Malta’s answer to the abortion lobby
By Jonathon Van Maren, July 20, 2026
For almost a decade, abortion activists have had the small Mediterranean country of Malta in their crosshairs. Malta is the European Union’s last pro-life haven; abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at immediate risk. Yet, contra the claims of abortion activists and activist NGOs, Malta has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world; not one woman died during or after childbirth from 2012 to 2023. Malta’s much-condemned pro-life regime proves that nations can protect both women and unborn children. This has presented abortion activists with a conundrum. Since the failure of a case to legalize abortion, activists have launched a campaign to illegally distribute abortion pills. Last year, three Polish doctors were convicted in the 2021 death of a thirty-year-old pregnant woman named Izabella. Activists had hoped the case would topple Poland’s pro-life regime. The fact that Malta (along with Poland) has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world while protecting unborn children in the womb proves that this is nothing but propaganda.
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