Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 2/4/26
Topics include: US Solicitor General backs Colorado Catholics; Catholic wins Costa Rican presidency; Hamas’ mandatory disarmament is elusive; & The world wants wrong kind of happiness
“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”
Today's sources are the CRUX, National Catholic Register, Vatican News, The Pillar, Aleteia, and EWTN 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 Leo appoints woman, a first, to Vatican financial commission
By Victoria Cardiel, February 3, 2026
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini as a member of the Commission for Reserved Matters, the Holy See Press Office announced in a Feb. 3 statement. She is the first woman to serve on the commission, created in 2020 by Pope Francis, which awards financial contracts in confidential areas of the Vatican. Petrini, born in Rome on Jan. 15, 1969, is 57 years old and has an academic and management background. She is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist and a noted economist. The Commission for Reserved Matters plays a strategic role in the control and allocation of contracts that are particularly sensitive for the Vatican City State, and this appointment underscores the growing presence of women in positions of responsibility within the Holy See.
National Catholic Register
US Solicitor General backs Colorado Catholics in preschool dispute
By Kate Quiñones/EWTN News, February 4, 2026
The United States solicitor general urged the Supreme Court to stop Colorado from excluding Catholic schools from the state’s universal preschool (UPK) program in a brief on Friday. The 25-page amicus brief, submitted by Solicitor General John Sauer, Principal Deputy Solicitor General Sarah Harris, and Assistant to the Solicitor General Emily Hall, asked the Supreme Court to consider the religious discrimination case. The friend-of-the-court brief is the latest development in the years-long legal troubles that religious preschools seeking to participate in the UPK have faced. The UPK program pledges to provide tuition assistance to families for qualifying preschools, but several religious preschools have been excluded from the program because of requirements related to its equal opportunity mandate.
CatholicVote/Zeale
Catholic Laura Fernández wins Costa Rican presidency
By Elise Winland, February 3, 2026
Conservative populist Laura Fernández was elected president of Costa Rica on Feb. 1, signaling a renewed public endorsement of traditional values, including strong protections for the unborn and the family. Fernández, 39, of the Sovereign People’s Party, won approximately 48.3% of the vote, according to preliminary election results cited by AP News. Her closest challenger was Álvaro Ramos with 33.4%. In her victory speech, she invoked her Catholic faith, thanking God and describing herself as a defender of liberty, life, and the family. Throughout her campaign, Fernández has emphasized conservative values, family priorities, and a tough approach to drugs and rising crime. Fernández, a wife and mother, has repeatedly called for strong legal protections for unborn children. In one statement shared widely by pro-life advocates online, she said, “Defending the lives of Costa Ricans who have not yet been born is an obligation of the state. Abortion is nothing more than murder.”
Jerusalem Post
Hamas’ mandatory disarmament remains elusive
By Waseem Abu Mahadi, The Media Line, February 4, 2026
The metal gates of the Rafah crossing swung open Monday morning for the first time in nearly two years. But just five medical patients and their companions, along with just over a dozen others who made it through that first day, were a stark illustration of how far the Gaza ceasefire remains from delivering on its promises. But the real battle isn’t about border crossings. It’s about weapons. President Donald Trump insists Hamas will disarm “because they have no choice.” His special envoy, Steve Witkoff, says the group “will give up their AK-47s.” Senior Hamas officials say that the conversation never happened. That disconnect now hangs over everything labeled “phase two”: reconstruction, governance, and long-term security. No international force has been deployed to Gaza to collect or verify weapons. No mechanism exists to enforce disarmament. More than two dozen countries participate in coordination meetings about Gaza's future. None has committed troops.
The Pillar
Venezuelan cardinals reticent, but finally speak out
By Edgar Beltrán, February 3, 2026
Two Venezuelan cardinals and an archbishop have called on the Catholic Church to demand the release of all political prisoners, an end to repression of free speech, and respect for the results of Venezuela’s disputed 2024 presidential election. “The Church, despite the shortcomings and difficulties inherent to human beings, is, by God’s will, a sign and instrument of unity and communion among all Venezuelans,” the letter said. Local observers say the timing suggests an effort to influence discussions among the bishops, after a month of institutional prudence following the Jan. 3 capture of former dictator Nicolás Maduro. Since Maduro’s capture, the bishops’ conference has issued only a brief, two-paragraph statement on the day of the arrest, and has otherwise remained silent, while only a handful of bishops have publicly spoken of the country’s situation. Local observers say that restraint reflects uncertainty about the country’s political direction.
Aleteia
Ash Wednesday is on Feb. 18 - Is that the earliest it can be?
By Philip Kosloski, February 2, 2026
Ash Wednesday is one of the movable feasts in the Church's liturgical calendar. It does not have a fixed date, like Christmas, when it is celebrated each year. It moves around and can either be in February or in March. The precise date depends on various calculations. Originally, Lent wasn’t 40 days; it began as only a few days of fasting and, in some cases, a mere 40 hours of preparation before Easter. Later, the Church adopted a tradition of 36 days of fasting, representing a “tenth” of the calendar year. The norms were established by the Council of Nicaea (325) and later adopted for Western Christianity at the Synod of Whitby: Easter Sunday falls each year on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. The six Sundays in Lent are not considered part of the official “Lenten fast,” so Lent is actually 46 days long. The earliest date Lent can start, counting back from the earliest date of Easter. is February 4, with Easter falling on March 22.
Catholic Culture
St. John Henry Newman added to General Roman Calendar
By Catholic World News, February 4, 2026
Pope Leo XIV has “decreed that Saint John Henry Newman, Priest and Doctor of the Church, be inscribed in the General Roman Calendar, and that his Optional Memorial be celebrated by all on 9 October,” according to a curial decree made public on February 3. On November 9, Pope Leo XIV proclaimed him the 38th doctor of the Church. Newman (1801-1890) was declared venerable in 1991, beatified in 2010, and canonized in 2019. Only saints of “universal significance” or who “demonstrate the universality and continuity of sainthood within the People of God” are inscribed on the General Roman Calendar, while other saints are recalled in the particular calendars of dioceses and religious institutes (n. 49). Pope Leo XIII created Newman a cardinal early in his pontificate (in 1879, a year after the papal election), much as Pope Leo XIV declared Newman a doctor of the Church early in his own pontificate.
Crux
National Council of Churches challenge India’s anti-conversion laws
By Nirmala Carvalho, February 4, 2026
Anti-conversion laws in twelve states in India are being challenged by the National Council of Churches of India, which has filed a writ petition challenging the constitutionality of such legislation in the Supreme Court. Hindu nationalists often accuse Christians of using force and surreptitious tactics in pursuing conversions, often storming into villages and leading “reconversion” ceremonies in which Christians are compelled to perform Hindu rituals. These pressures on Christians, which also affect Muslims and other religious minorities, are part of what observers describe as a broad program for the “saffronization” of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meaning an attempt to impose Hindu values and identity while squeezing out rival faiths. Hindus make up nearly 80% of the country, and Christians — the majority of them Catholics — only make up 2.3% of the nation.
From Loop & EWTN to Pillar Post for 2/4/26
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TRUMP DOJ ASKS JUDGE TO DELAY ABORTION PILL RESTRICTIONS - The Justice Department this week asked a federal judge to delay or dismiss a pro-life Louisiana lawsuit seeking to regulate abortion pills. The DOJ cited the Trump administration’s promised safety review of Mifepristone, arguing it could take another year to complete. CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt condemned the filing, calling it “a contradiction of the assurances” that JD Vance “made to pro-life Americans just days ago at the March for Life.” READ
CATHOLICVOTE JOINS EFFORT TO CHALLENGE OBERGEFELL - CatholicVote has joined a nationwide coalition backing the newly launched “Greater Than” campaign, a coordinated effort seeking to challenge the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that legalized "gay marriage." The campaign reframes national debates over marriage and family policy around one central theme: the rights of children. READ
THE ORIGINS OF AMERICA’S CATHOLIC SCHOOLS - This Catholic Schools Week, Zeale’s Mary Rose explains the beautiful backstory of Catholic schools in the U.S., which were formed on the principle “that children on the margins of American life deserved an education that took their faith seriously, affirmed their dignity, and recognized their place in the nation they were helping to build.” READ
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — February 4, 2026
EWTN News 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.
Pope warns against new arms race - By Victoria Cardiel - At his general audience, Pope Leo XIV appealed for renewed nuclear arms-control efforts and asked Catholics to proclaim the Gospel in ways that speak to people’s real lives. He called for “every constructive effort in favor of disarmament and mutual trust,” insisting that the current international climate demands urgent action to prevent escalation.
Bishop offers guidance amid ‘staggering’ mental health crisis, especially among the young - By Amira Abuzeid - In a recent pastoral letter, Bishop Michael Burbidge addressed what he sees as a “crisis” in mental health among Catholics, especially the young, and seeks to remove stigma over seeking help. “The scale and scope of this crisis are staggering,” he said.
Bishops warn that Cuba risks social chaos if urgent changes are not made
By Eduardo Berdejo - The Conference of Catholic Bishops of Cuba warned that the country risks descending into social chaos and violence if urgent structural changes are not made. Venezuela had stopped exporting oil to Cuba in November 2025, and with the capture of President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces in January. Russia and Algeria stopped sending fuel to the Cuban regime in October and February 2025.
The Pillar
Pillar Stories for Tuesday, 2/4/26
The Pillar offers a news summary and a capsule take on Catholic News. Here are news stories from the past week in the Pillar Post:
You wouldn’t expect that the Epstein emails would contain a whole lot for specifically Catholic media to cover — but there is. For example, there is a 2015 email in which a decorator working for Epstein claims, improbably, that Epstein “liv[ed] with John Paul the Second in Vatican.”
The “first phase” of the German synodal way ended with a heated debate over whether the country’s new permanent “synodal body” should monitor the implementation of synodal way resolutions in dioceses. The conversation is important, because it saw even noted-synodal way supporter Cardinal Reinhard Marx pushing back on a plan that would see bishops’ diocesan leadership monitored by a central ecclesial body within Germany.
Following a string of controversies in the Archdiocese of Caracas, Archbishop Raúl Biord, SDB, is scheduled to meet privately with Pope Leo this week. The meeting comes as the archbishop remains mired in controversy. He has been accused of mistreating his predecessor and was more recently accused of helping to facilitate the extortion of a political prisoner’s family member.
Nutshell reflections for 2/4/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - February 4, 2026
Wednesday of the Fourth Week in Ordinary Time
The Abbey of Misrule
St Brigid manifests a tale of miracles and magic
By Paul Kingsnorth, February 1, 2026
You don’t have to read many lives of early Christian saints, whether in Ireland, Egypt, or elsewhere, to notice themes emerging. These ‘lives’ are not biographies in the modern sense; rather, they are stories of spiritual warfare. They are attempts to demonstrate the saint's holiness and importance, and the truth of the Christian faith. Sometimes this spiritual warfare is spoken of in terms of an inner struggle, but more often — overwhelmingly so in the life of St Brigid — it manifests externally as tales of miracles and magic. The force of her personality, her love for the weak, and the work of the monastery she founded earned her the title of saint in her own lifetime, as did her miracles, of which my favourite is the turning of water into beer: a very northern European version of Jesus’s wedding gift. St Brigid’s Day, February 1, is the same date as the old pre-Christian festival of ‘Imbolc’, which the Church reworked to suppress or appropriate the old religion.
Aleteia
Human dignity does not peak with productivity
By Cerith Gardiner, February 4, 2026
When news emerged that Lou Holtz had entered hospice care at the age of 89, it landed quietly but heavily. For many, the update prompted memories of packed stadiums and championship seasons. For others, it stirred something more personal: a pause to consider how a life shaped by discipline, faith, and family comes to rest in preparation for eternity. Holtz is best known for leading the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to a perfect season and national championship in 1988 — a crowning achievement in a long and demanding career. Hospice care, by its very nature, invites a different way of seeing. It signals not defeat, but attentiveness — a recognition that life’s final chapters call for gentleness rather than striving. In Catholic tradition, this is a sacred threshold, where dignity is not diminished by frailty but revealed through love freely given and received.
Catholic Exchange
The world wants happiness—Just not Christ’s way
By Fr. Kevin Drew, February 4, 2026
“I just want to be happy,” depressed people tell their therapists all the time. Why are so many people unhappy? We now have a world of pleasure and entertainment right at our fingertips. Listen to St. Ignatius of Loyola, who, before founding the Jesuit religious order, was quite the pleasure seeker: In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual pleasure and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins. According to a modern-day Jesuit, a Jewish convert, Fr. Robert Spitzer, statistics show that pornography, erotic images that incite sexual excitement, is the fastest-growing addiction in the U.S. The effects of the addiction show a significant increase in job loss, financial loss, divorce rates, legal problems, and depression.
Crisis Magazine
Empathy without truth is sentimentality with a body count
By Sarah Cain, February 4, 2026
Hillary Clinton has written an op-ed for The Atlantic that is permeated with moral indignation. She decries “MAGA’s War on Empathy” and then engages in a one-woman war on Truth. Her piece may remind readers of the older rhetoric of the political Left, which they don’t use as much anymore, wherein they proclaim that those on the Right are immoral monsters and those on the Left are heroically trying to protect the victims and institute virtuous policies. She heralds empathy like a lost art but utilizes it selectively. She comfortably applies it to the illegal immigrant facing deportation. She employs her empathy to rape victims when she is encouraging abortion, but never to the children born of rape, whom she wishes to slaughter. Hillary likewise attempts to co-opt the Christian faith for the support of abortion and homosexual acts and implies that this is somehow true Christianity. Empathy untethered from truth is not compassion but sentimentality with a body count.
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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