“I’ll pray for thee from my pistachio tree”
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Our Sunday Visitor
Notre Dame consecrated to the Sacred Heart for the first time
By OSV News, September 28, 2026
The University of Notre Dame was consecrated for the first time to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Sept. 25 following an evening Mass celebrated by Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend at the Indiana institution. Students led the initiative to consecrate the university to the Sacred Heart after being inspired by the U.S. bishops’ consecration of the United States to the Sacred Heart in June, the university said. “Students from a variety of groups and backgrounds came together to focus on this devotion,” Father Gregory Haake, a priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and vice president in the university’s Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs, in a Sept. 22 press release from the university. Although the Sacred Heart consecration was the university’s first, “devotion to the Sacred Heart is in the DNA of this university, just as devotion to Our Lady is in its DNA,” Bishop Rhoades said in the homily.
Zeale
Bishops asked to reject Biden’s Planned Parenthood award
By Elise Winland, September 28, 2026
CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt is calling on Catholic bishops to speak out after former President Joe Biden accepted an award from Planned Parenthood of Delaware at its Sept. 24 fundraising gala. “I am begging Catholic bishops to stand against this public scandal for the good of the soul of Joe Biden, battling cancer, and for the spiritual health of our nation,” Reinhardt wrote on X Sept. 24. “Even now more lives are at stake in Virginia, Nevada, Idaho, Missouri… All because THIS was tolerated for far too long by far too many.” Biden received the 2026 Sonia Schorr Sloan Service Award at the affiliate’s Chocolate & Champagne Gala in Claymont, Delaware. Former First Lady Jill Biden presented the award, which bears the name of Sonia “Sonny” Sloan, a former Planned Parenthood of Delaware president and pro-abortion activist. Biden called Sloan a “close friend and early supporter” and said she would have been “devastated” by the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
EWTN News
Pope Leo not ‘in panic mode’ over AI dangers
By Hannah Brockhaus, September 28, 2026
Pope Leo XIV said he takes seriously the warnings raised by tech experts about the dangers of AI, including risks to humanity, but he is not panicking over dire predictions. “If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode, no I’m not, I sleep at night. I do think the concerns raised by many experts in AI should be taken seriously,” the pope told reporters accompanying him on his flight to Rome from Metz, France, Sept. 28. “I don’t think that is fake news, as some have said, to try and cause … financial or some other kind of benefit,” he added. A former safety researcher at the AI company Anthropic warned earlier this month that he believes the technology’s rapid advancement could mean there’s a more than 10% chance that AI “could kill all humans” within a decade. Pope Leo told journalists on Monday that the Vatican has organized its own commission on AI, both to coordinate its own use of the technology and to “continue to promote dialogue, study, investigation to find ways to make sure that AI doesn’t get to a point where it destroys humanity.”
CBCP News
Philippine bishops call for anti-dynasty law
By CBCP News, September 20, 2026
The Philippines’ Catholic bishops on Friday called for the enactment of a genuine and effective law against political dynasties, days after the Philippine Supreme Court ordered Congress to fulfill its constitutional duty to pass one. The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it could not remain indifferent to issues involving the moral foundations of society, human dignity, justice, equality and the common good. “For these reasons, we support the call to enact a genuine, meaningful, and effective Anti-Political Dynasty Law that will faithfully give effect to the mandate of our Constitution,” the bishops said in a pastoral statement. The bishops said political dynasties are “not merely a political question” but also a “moral and ethical concern,” arguing that the common good suffers when public authority is treated as private privilege. “And when power becomes too concentrated, the institutions that should ensure accountability become vulnerable to patronage, favoritism, and particular interests,” they said.
Fides News Agency
The Church continues to stand by the Cuban people
By Fides News Agency, September 7, 2026
New U.S. sanctions against Cuba are placing additional pressure on a population already grappling with one of the country's most severe economic and social crises in recent decades. On July 13, the U.S. State Department announced new restrictions targeting Cuba's Ministry of Tourism and nine other state entities operating in sectors including foreign trade, fuel and public services. For months, leading figures in the Cuban Church have highlighted the seriousness of the country's crisis. Earlier this year, the Cuban bishops called for "paths of dialogue, shared responsibility and solutions capable of restoring hope," emphasizing fraternity and the common good. At the same time, Caritas Cuba continues its practical commitment to supporting those in need. "More than 50 containers of humanitarian assistance passed through the port and the airport," Dionisio Guillermo García Ibáñez of Santiago de Cuba said. "This does not solve all the problems, but at least around 8,000 families have benefited, and that is already something."
National Catholic Register
Bishop’s balanced approach to Immigration & national identity
By Edward Pentin, September 25, 2026
Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, called for a balanced approach to immigration, one that rejects viewing every stranger as an enemy, often on the grounds of “ethnic purity,” while reminding immigrants that they have “solemn duties toward their country of adoption.” He underlined the importance of immigrants reciprocating the welcome and generosity they receive from host countries. Quoting from the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2241), he said they have “solemn duties” toward their country of adoption and are “obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.” The challenge for Christians, he continued, is therefore to balance two tasks: “to foster national unity and character, at risk in an era suffused with global media, bombarded by the advertising of global trade; while yet cordially caring for the needy and the stranger.”
The Pillar
What will the USCCB’s AI task force actually do?
By JD Flynn, September 18, 2026
The USCCB said Sept. 16 that its new AI task force will “focus on promoting policies and practices that protect human dignity, religious liberty, democratic institutions, workers, families, and vulnerable populations.” It is not immediately clear what policies the bishops will advocate for, or even in what forum. But the scope of the bishops’ project will likely determine how effective the task force is. The group will operate for two years, and then bishops will decide whether to bring its work to a close, or to establish the task force as a committee of the conference. The announcement suggests that when the bishops’ conference says the bishops will advocate on policy, they have in mind federal lobbying — that they will join in the emergent calls of tech leaders and others for Congressional legislation that would see a slowdown of AI development and the mandated creation of independent third-party safety reviewers, possibly akin to the National Transportation Safety Board’s work to review aviation, railroad, and other transit disasters.
Crux
At the United Nations, the Vatican rejects ‘The Art of The Deal’
By Charles Collins, September 28, 2026
“Regrettably, international relations today are characterized by a growing lack of trust among actors, especially through the disregard of the principle pacta sunt servanda,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said when he addressed the United Nations as its General Assembly opened on Sep. 26 in New York. Pacta sunt servanda. That’s Latin for “agreements must be honored.” Although Parolin named no world leader in his remarks, he spoke just days after U.S. President Donald Trump’s address to the international body. Trump used the word “agreement” three times on Sep. 22. All references were to the agreement with Denmark granting the U.S. permanent control over the security of Greenland, the world’s largest island, which lies between the Arctic and the Atlantic and has been under Danish control for hundreds of years. However, this “agreement” was made after Trump’s recent threats to take over the island – even militarily – claiming it needed to be under the control of the United States.
Keep informed - 9/29/26 news for Catholics
Snippets: Pulpit, EWTN, & Aleteia
BIG PULPIT
Tito Edwards’ Catholic blogger site: September 29, 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.
Rise in Young Catholic Converts Points to Spiritual Longing in The West – Michelle Boorstein
The People Trying to Bring Back Latin as Europe’s Common Language – E. Labanauskas at LRT.it
The Devil Wants You to Move & Not Have Stability – Austin Ruse at Catholic Exchange
‘This Is Only the Beginning’: Pope Leo XIV’s Visit Electrifies France – National Catholic Register
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — September 29, 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.
Mexico commemorates 500th anniversary of Child Martyrs - By Diego López Colín - The first martyrs of the Americas were not missionary priests but three young Indigenous boys in Mexico who sought to spread the faith they were taught and embraced 500 years ago.
Assisi to welcome thousands of pilgrims for 800th anniversary of St. Francis’ death - By Diego López Marina - Activities will run from Sept. 24 to Oct. 5 and will include liturgies, cultural events, various charitable initiatives, and the traditional procession dedicated to the saint at the Porziuncola.
Church leaders continue to urge Catholics to aid immigrants as government defends deportations - By Amira Abuzeid - Church leaders continue to draw attention to what they call the “indiscriminate” enforcement actions of U.S. federal immigration officials as they urged Catholics on the World Day of Migrants and Refugees to pray, help immigrants, and advocate for policy change.
Aleteia
Aleteia’s global network reports for September 29, 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.
Here are the four offices of St. Michael the Archangel - Philip Kosloski - The first office given to St. Michael is to combat Satan and his minions. The second is rescuing souls from the power of the enemy. The third office is related to how the Israelites saw St. Michael as their primary protector. The fourth is bringing souls to judgment after death
The 13-year-old who sang her heart out for Pope Leo - Eva Molenmaker faced a sea of faces at Lourdes before singing just feet from the Pope. Her reaction afterward makes her even more endearing. Speaking to Aleteia about Pope Leo, Eva said simply: “I hope he will be touched.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald: “Show me a hero, I’ll write you a tragedy.” - He cared deeply and was particularly focused on the promise of youth, and gave of himself— helping many rising young writers make their mark, most famously Ernest Hemingway.
September 29, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE - or read HERE:
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Dominica
Nothing will be impossible for God
By Br. Gabriel O’Neill, O.P., September 29, 2026
“Nothing will be impossible for God” (Luke 1:37). By this one little phrase, the weight of despair is lifted off our shoulders, and every person finds a firm reason to hope. God says that he will do the physically impossible in Mary: although she is a virgin, she is to conceive a Son. He also asks her to do the socially impossible: to endure the calumnies and stares of her acquaintances who would surely suspect her of sin. But, lockstep with God’s request for the impossible is the revelation of his mercy. Yes, Mary was asked to do the impossible, but she responded with prompt obedience, for she did not doubt the archangel’s message: “Nothing will be impossible for God.” Once this small phrase sinks down to the depths of your consciousness, it has the power to change you. But it must sink all the way to the depths, past every other fundamental notion of yourself and of the world. Every word from God is worthy of our trust as most true.
Missio Dei Catholic
‘You will see heaven opened and the angels of God …’
By Deacon Michael Halbrook, September 29, 2026
In my home we have a small family chapel, and it is anchored by an altar that holds the Book of the Gospels, candles, and images that anchor our daily prayer. Every morning for my holy hour, every afternoon at Evening Prayer, every night for Examen and Compline, I come into this space. And there, always in front of me, is an icon. It is the Ladder of Divine Ascent - a 12th-century image first painted at the Monastery of Saint Catherine at the foot of Mount Sinai, based on the spiritual treatise of John Climacus, written around 600 AD. Today, the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. And today the Gospel hands us a key to the icon I praying before through the year. And then the sentence the Gospel for this Feast builds toward: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
Th ‘Beat’ writers : Evangelists among them
By James K. Hanna, September 29, 2026
I have an essay published today at Dappled Things Magazine. In it I propose that Beat writers Jack Kerouac and Gregory Corso were, in a very real way, religious evangelists. The essay reads, in part, “It was a generation of literati like no other, successor to the Lost Generation of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. In addition to Kerouac and Ginsberg, William S. Burroughs and Gregory Corso are considered among the first of the Beat writers … Legions are the detractors who rank the Beats as irreverent, reckless, rebellious, and as shown by their bohemian lifestyle, hostile to civilization—by implication, then, irreligious … That stereotype is unfair, and a few contemporary writers have looked to dispel the image by drawing to the fore tidbits of spirituality found in the prose and poems of the Beats. But that approach often tends to foster the “spiritual not religious’’ narrative. One should look beyond the novels and poetry collections.”
Catholic Stand
Behind the screen, God sees you
By Taylor Willis, September 26, 2026
We live in a time when being noticed can feel like being valued. A picture can receive hundreds of likes, a video can reach thousands of people, and a simple post can bring attention within seconds. For many young people, social media has become part of everyday life. We share our happiest moments, our best pictures, our achievements, and sometimes even our struggles. Yet behind the screen, there can still be a quiet question in our hearts: “Am I enough?” It is easy to begin measuring our worth by numbers. How many people liked my picture? How many followers do I have? Without realizing it, we can begin to depend on the approval of others to feel good about ourselves. But likes cannot love us. Followers cannot truly know us. A screen cannot see the deepest parts of our hearts. God can. Scripture reminds us, “Do not be afraid, for I am with you.” His love is not based on how many people approve of us or how successful we are.
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