Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 6/17/26
Catholics should know: SSPX risks deepening schism; Ohio Governor changes on death penalty; Pope welcomes US-Iran agreement; & More governments cracking down on religion
“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”
Your 5-minute Catholic briefing for busy faithful. Today's sources are the Zeale News, National Catholic Register, EWTN News, The Pillar, Aleteia, and OSV News. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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EWTN News
Pope warns SSPX ordinations risk deepening schism
By Hannah Brockhaus, June 16, 2026
Pope Leo XIV cautioned that the planned ordination of Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) bishops could push the group toward schism, urging them again to stop and remain in communion with the Church. “We have invited them, and I am still considering making another appeal, to say: ‘Do not do this. Let us try to live in communion in the Church.’ But it is their choice. They must understand what it means for them and for the Church,” the pope said, outside Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo on June 16. The Society of St. Pius X said it plans to consecrate four priests as bishops on July 1 without the permission of Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican warned on May 13 that doing so without a papal mandate would constitute “a schismatic act” and carry the penalty of excommunication. The consecrations are set to take place at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland. “Certainly, division among Christians is always a painful matter,” the pope said. “But they refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church, beginning with various points of the Second Vatican Council. And if they make those choices, I am sorry. But we must move forward.”
Related: The SSPX Leadership Against Scripture and Tradition - George Weigel Commentaries, National Catholic Register, June 17, 2026
OSV News
Homeboy Industries, Georgetown join for $100 million fund drive
By Kurt Jensen, June 16, 2026
Georgetown University‘s McCourt School of Public Policy in Washington now has a relationship with a $100 million fundraising campaign to expand an acclaimed Los Angeles gang-intervention program founded by Jesuit Father Greg Boyle. Frank McCourt Jr., the billionaire Georgetown alumnus who founded the school in 2013, is leading the Homeboy Industries fundraising, announced in October, with an initial $10 million. The capital drive was promoted on June 11 at the McCourt School as the Global Homeboy Network D.C. Summit. Homeboy Industries was inspired in part by the Ignatian meditation about finding God “in the lowly place,” Father Boyle said. That “is where the joy is.” Hope Village will also redevelop the neighborhood surrounding Men’s Central Jail and The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities. The plans are for more than 200 units of “supportive and transitional housing.”
National Catholic Register
Ohio Governor DeWine urges the state to abolish the death penalty
By Tessa Gervasini/EWTN News, June 9, 2026
Ohio Governor. Mike DeWine said this week that the state should end the death penalty, with the governor arguing that he no longer believes it is a “deterrent” to murder. “I believe Ohio should abolish the death penalty,” the Catholic Republican governor said at a June 16 press conference. “The Legislature can take this action, and I believe they should take this action.” “But if the Legislature does not want to make that decision, they can leave it up to a vote of the people of the state of Ohio,” he said. After DeWine was elected to the state Senate in 1980, he co-sponsored a bill that sought to reinstate the death penalty in Ohio. DeWine supported the policy at the time, believing it would lessen violent crime, he said at the press conference, but he argued, “the moral justification I had for voting for the death penalty simply no longer exists.”
Zeale News
Bible verses on Giants’ Pride Night caps violated the league’s rules
By Mary Rose, June 16, 2026
Major League Baseball (MLB) warned three San Francisco Giants pitchers after they wrote Bible verses on their Pride Night caps during a June 12 game against the Chicago Cubs, saying the markings violated league uniform rules. MLB chief communications officer Pat Courtney said in a statement June 15 that “the writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.” Giants starter Landen Roupp, 27, pitched nearly five innings with “Gen 9:12-16” written on the front of his Pride Night cap next to the rainbow-colored SF logo. The passage refers to Genesis 9, in which God places a rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant with humanity after the flood. Relief pitchers JT Brubaker, 32, and Ryan Walker, 30, also wrote Bible verses on their caps. Brubaker cited Genesis 9:13-15, while Roupp and Walker referenced Genesis 9:12-16. "There's no hate at all. It's just what I stand for, and what I stand on: I believe in God," Roupp said.
The PIllar
Priestly ordinations still declining in Poland
By Luke Coppen, June 16, 2026
A total of 196 new priests are scheduled to be ordained in Poland this year, continuing a long-term decline in numbers — 130 of the candidates will be diocesan priests, and 66 will serve within religious orders. This is expected to be the first year in the 21st century with fewer than 200 priestly ordinations in Poland. There were 208 new priests in 2025 and 235 in 2024. The drop in priestly ordinations is likely to be felt far beyond Poland, because the country has traditionally supplied priests to other European countries, both East and West. Poland has also long been an important source of missionary priests to Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Despite the ongoing decline, Poland remains the European country with the most priestly vocations. In France, for example, there were 90 new priests in 2025. In Germany, there were 25. Poland has a smaller overall population than France or Germany, but it has a larger number of baptized Catholics and a significantly higher Mass attendance rate than either country.
Vatican News
Pope welcomes US-Iran agreement
By Devin Watkins, June 17, 2026
As he held his weekly General Audience on Wednesday, Pope Leo XIV appealed for Iran and the United States to continue along the path of dialogue and cooperation. The two countries are expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Friday, nearly four months into the war. “I welcome with satisfaction the reaching of an agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, which will be signed on Friday, as an encouraging result of patient work of dialogue and negotiation,” said the Pope. He thanked the third-party countries that have worked to facilitate peace negotiations. “I hope that this agreement may help strengthen mutual trust, security, and stability in the Middle East, promoting paths of dialogue and cooperation among peoples,” he said. Pope Leo XIV invited everyone to pray for an end to the war in Ukraine. “I invite everyone to pray that this war may end,” he said. “Let us ask the Lord to open paths of dialogue, to extinguish hatred, and to make a just and lasting peace possible.”
Related: Trump says if the Iran ‘Memo of Understanding’ is not finalized, US to ‘drop bombs’ if unhappy - The Jerusalem Post, By Richard Offenbacher, James Glenn, June 17, 2026
Graphs about Religion
Faith and the Voting Booth
By Ryan Burge and Praveen Vissa, June 15, 2026
A growing number of Americans feel negatively toward the other party, not because of their policy positions on things like healthcare or immigration, but simply because they are the other party. A Democrat will demonize or mischaracterize the other side of the argument because this helps them justify their own voting choices. It really goes both ways. It doesn’t take a lot of deduction to figure out the common thread among the groups that whites and Christians are Trump’s base. It’s always been that way. But he’s underwater with all kinds of other religious traditions. Among mainline Protestants, disapproval was 52%, and approval was 46%. His standing with non-white evangelicals is twenty points underwater. It’s even worse with non-white Catholics: 65% disapproval against 31% approval. There are also a few other instances of a drop, most notably among white Catholics. Among the younger set, his approval rating stands at exactly 50% in 2025, while 60.5% supported him in the 2024 race against Kamala Harris. However, looking at this broadly, I just don’t think I can make a strong claim that Trump is doing significantly worse in 2025 than in 2017.
The Jerusalem Post
JD Vance writes of his journey to Catholicism in ‘Communion’
By Meg Kinnard, Mike Catalini, June 16, 2026
Vice President J.D. Vance, a convert to Catholicism whose faith has been central to his adult life, writes about his religious journey in a new book that could ultimately serve as an origin story for a future presidential campaign. “Communion: Finding My Way Back to Faith” comes out Tuesday from Harper, and The Associated Press obtained a copy ahead of its release. The HarperCollins imprint also put out “Hillbilly Elegy,” the best-selling memoir from 2016 that helped make Vance a national figure. Vance has been working on and off on his new book since then, a tumultuous decade that included a Hollywood movie about his youth, a short stint as a U.S. senator from Ohio, and now vice president to Donald Trump. “Communion” serves as a sort of manifesto for the role of religion in public life. Vance writes about transitioning from Protestant Christianity to atheism to Catholicism, and he credits his faith with giving him a sense of purpose he didn’t find through his education at Yale University or his work in the financial industry.
Keep informed - 6/17/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Loop, Aleteia, & The Pillar
CatholicVote: Zeale’s LOOP
Read daily news and political impact stories at the “LOOP”
Elections and politics matter. The LOOP gives you daily gems on the news that seek “to renew our country and culture.” CatholicVote’s advertised mission is “To inspire every Catholic in America to live out the truths of our faith in public life.”
CV PUTS MLB ON NOTICE FOR THREATENING CHRISTIAN PLAYERS - Major League Baseball (MLB) told three San Francisco Giants pitchers they had violated uniform rules after they wrote Bible verses on their "Pride Night" caps during a June 12 game. CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt stated that CatholicVote "will not stand by while players' religious freedom is chilled or punished." She pointed out that the organization has taken on MLB teams twice before, prevailed both times, and was "prepared to do it again." READ
EXCLUSIVE: JOE LOMBARDI SHARES HOW FAITH SHAPES HIM - Joe Lombardi, grandson of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi and a senior offensive assistant with the Baltimore Ravens, told CatholicVote’s Joshua Mercer at the June 13 Zeale for America 250 rally that his grandfather’s “faith, family, and football” creed remains a blueprint for ordering his life as a Catholic and a coach. READ
UK INQUIRY PUBLISHES SHOCK RAPE GANG REPORT - An independent British inquiry released a 219-page report yesterday, concluding that organized networks of predominantly Pakistani Muslim men sexually exploited as many as 250,000 girls and women across the United Kingdom over several decades while police, social workers, schools, the National Health Service, and politicians repeatedly failed to intervene or suppressed evidence of abuse. READ
Aleteia News
Aleteia’s headlines — June 17, 2026
Aleteia (aleteia.org) is an online publication distributed in six languages (English, French, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, and Slovenian). Aleteia reaches more than 10 million readers per month.
Would alien life shake faith? Catholics aren’t worried - is it true that proof of aliens would “mess up” Christians’ belief systems? We can’t speak to other faith traditions, but for Catholics, the answer is easy: No. “Any entity, no matter how many tentacles it has, has a soul,” said Brother Guy Consolmagno, director of the Vatican Observatory, in a 2010 interview, saying he would be “delighted” if intelligent aliens were found.
Iran and Ukraine: Pope on pathways to dialogue - I welcome with satisfaction the agreement reached between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America, which is to be signed on Friday, as an encouraging outcome of patient dialogue and negotiation. I express my gratitude to the countries that have worked to facilitate the meeting between the parties and make this agreement possible.
Behind ‘Minisciples’: When faith becomes a family mission - Minisciples is an Instagram account that creates short animated stories based on the Gospels, bringing the Word of God to life in an accessible, highly visual way. Aleteia spoke with Mauricio to learn more about his story, his family dynamic, and the origins of this Catholic project.
The Pillar
Pillar Stories from the May calendar, 6/17/26
The Pillar offers a news summary and a capsule take on Catholic News. Here are news stories from the past few weeks in the Pillar Post:
We talked last week with the Korean bishop serving as the general coordinator for World Youth Day 2027. “We will be giving the space for Jesus to work, and he will be drawing [young people] to himself, in a sacramental way,” said Bishop Kyung-Sang Lee, auxiliary of Seoul.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar of the Diocese of Rome, denied last week being part of a criminal investigation into his brother, in a scandal involving several Sicilian politicians and businessmen and a pay-for-access scheme. Or maybe it was just fraternal advice. To be clear, nothing is clear yet.
Speaking of Italian arrests, Italian police have arrested a woman on suspicion of playing a major role in laundering around 61 million euros (approximately $70 million) embezzled from Caritas Luxembourg. Fraudsters are believed to have extracted an estimated 61 million euros from the charity in more than 100 transactions of less than 500,000 euros ($579,000) between February and July 2024.
June 17, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE or read HERE:
Wednesday of the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Crisis Magazine
‘Disclosure Day’ edifies one’s Christian faith
By Scott Ventureyra, June 17, 2026
Steven Spielberg’s latest movie, Disclosure Day, is the culmination of the director’s fascination with alien-themed movies, which has captivated his imagination for half a century. It all started with his first film, Firelight, which he made when he was only 18. Both movies look at them as benevolent creatures. I would argue that in Spielberg’s imagination, extraterrestrials often function as quasi-salvific figures who guide, heal, or elevate humanity. At the movie’s core lies a question that Spielberg has been repeating in numerous interviews leading up to its release: How would humanity react if it learned with certainty that it was not alone in the universe? Against the backdrop or subplot of the movie, such as the mounting geopolitical tensions and the looming threat of nuclear conflict, he views disclosure as a pivotal moment in human history that will drastically change how humanity views its place in the cosmos
The Catholic Weekly
Pew: More governments cracking down on religion
By Gina Christian, June 17, 2026
A new report shows more countries saw spikes in religious hostility by individuals and groups in 2023, the last year for which data is available, with the rise attributable in part to harassment of religious minorities and the ongoing impact of the Israel-Hamas war. At the same time, more governments have been cracking down on religious belief and expression since 2007. The findings were released 15 June by Pew Research Centre in its 16th annual report on global religious restriction levels. Pew researchers Samirah Majumdar and Vivian Jacobs assessed data from 198 countries and territories – representing “all but a tiny fraction of the global population” – drawn from 19 key sources, including countries’ constitutions, the US State Department, the United Nations, the European Union, the FBI, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
Birthplace of a Beat from the Beat Generation
By James K. Hanna, June 13, 2026
Called “tombstone tourism,” I get why people visit the gravesites of the famous. It’s a way for history buffs and others to pay respects or appreciate the lives of the deceased. I read of a person who traveled to France simply to visit the burial site of rocker Jim Morrison of Doors fame. I get that, and I’ve visited many myself—Babe Ruth, FDR, Knute Rockne, Thomas Merton, among them. And then there are those who would rather visit birthplaces. I think that is my preference—where it all began, rather than where it ended. I say so after visiting New York’s Greenwich Village on Thursday. If you’re into the Beats, you know the Village was the hangout for the heavies—Kerouac, Ginsberg, Burroughs, Corso, and many others. But, to my knowledge, only one was born in the Village—poet Gregory Corso. Corso was born at the intersection of Bleecker and MacDougal and helped give birth to a movement in the same neighborhood. Baptized Nuncio, he later changed to Gregory, his confirmation name. I’ve written about Gregory here.
Catholic 365
Divine Providence stands beside us in our unknowing lives
By Marianne Giltner, June 17, 2025
Divine Providence refers to God’s active, loving intervention, care, and governance of the Universe. God continuously sustains and directs all things. Directed toward a purposeful, ultimate design, He constructs and guides our path to Him through our surrender, allowing Him to lead us. Situations, though sometimes hard to understand or to accept, are always situated in His Divine Providence, to let our lives unfold with much more ease once we resolve to the fact that He “is” the Divine Providence. He loves each and every one of us, and there is no sin so great that He does not forgive, said with true contrition. His Divine Providence stands beside us in our own unknowing lives, just waiting to be unleashed. Sometimes it is unleashed with our awareness, making that which we cannot see, seen. We must trust the visible and invisible, allowing God in His Divine Providence to work through us.
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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