Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 12/3/25
Topics include: Canada to remove religious exemptions; Hope in the Holy Land; Supreme Court and pro-life pregnancy centers; & Learn the Eastern Christian symbols
“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”
Today's sources are the CRUX, Catholic Culture, National Catholic Register, Vatican News, The Pillar, Aleteia, and CNA. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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Catholic News Agency
Canada to remove religious exemptions from hate-speech laws
By Daniel Payne, December 2, 2025
Legislators in Canada are reportedly poised to strip religious protections from the country’s hate-speech laws as part of an effort to crack down on hateful symbols throughout the country. Canadian law formerly forbade people from “inciting hatred against any identifiable group,” though it provides exemptions for individuals whose opinions are grounded in religion or a religious text. The National Post reported on Dec. 1 that the exemptions are expected to be removed in an upcoming amendment to the country’s hate-speech laws. The paper cited a “senior government source” who was granted anonymity to discuss the proceedings. Reports of hate crimes in Canada have been on the rise in recent years, fueled particularly by antisemitic incidents. The amendment would define “hatred” as “the emotion that involves detestation or vilification, and that is stronger than disdain or dislike.”
National Catholic Register
Bethlehem plans a joyous Christmas: Hope in the Holy Land
By Michele Chabin, December 2, 2025
Even before its release, the film was scorned by part of the French cultural elite, provoking either mockery or indignation over content deemed overly proselytizing. Even France’s state-owned railway companies refused to advertise the film. As the box-office numbers show, these efforts did little to dissuade the public. On the contrary, Sacré-Cœur: son règne n’a pas de fin (“Sacred Heart: His Reign Is Endless”), directed and produced by Steven Gunnell and his wife Sabrina Gunnell, has become the cinematic surprise of the year. The film has defied every prediction: nearly half a million tickets sold, record attendance per screening, and a wave of conversions to the faith. Plans are to expand the film’s reach globally, with a United States release currently slated for June 12, 2026.
CatholicVote
Supreme Court seems sympathetic to pro-life pregnancy centers
By McKenna Snow, December 2, 2025
An argument analysis from SCOTUSblog offers an overview of the oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court on Dec. 2 — the justices seem “sympathetic” to the pro-life pregnancy centers in the case. New Jersey-based pregnancy organization First Choice Women’s Resource Centers has been working through a legal battle to protect its privacy after NJ Attorney General Matthew Platkin issued subpoenas demanding that the centers “reveal confidential documents and the identities of donors behind nearly 5,000 donations.” Platkin said his office issued the subpoenas because “they were investigating whether First Choice may have misled women about whether it provides certain reproductive-health services, such as abortions.” Erin Hawley, attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom representing First Choice, argued that Platkin had “violated the group’s First Amendment right to association as soon as it received the subpoena.”
Related: U.S. Supreme Court hears dispute over faith-based pregnancy centers- Dec 2, 2025, Catholic News Agency, By Steven Harras
Aleteia
Eastern Christian symbols every Westerner should know
By Camille Dalmas, December 3, 2025
Eastern Christianity carries a visual language that shaped the first millennium of the Church — yet many Western Christians only know bits and pieces of it. These symbols are far from being decorative; they arose from prayer, theology, and the shared memory of the early Christian communities stretching from Antioch to Constantinople. For instance, the patriarchal cross looks familiar at first glance — two horizontal bars atop a single vertical beam — but the upper, shorter bar carries rich meaning. Appearing widely in Byzantine and Slavic Christianity, it represents the inscription placed above Christ’s head during the Crucifixion. And, the “Chi-Rho” occupies a special place in Eastern art, often tucked discreetly into the corner of icons or carved into ancient marble lintels. Formed from the first two Greek letters of “Christos,” it is one of Christianity’s oldest monograms.
The Pillar
New Texas Carmel of six nuns is a ‘fresh start’
By The Pillar, December 2, 2025
Six Carmelite nuns will begin a new monastery in the Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, this month, more than one year after the Vatican-ordered suppression of a controversial Carmelite monastery, which had been embroiled in a years-long scandal including allegations of sexual misconduct, drug abuse, and schism. Fort Worth’s Bishop Michael Olson told The Pillar Tuesday that the new Carmelite monastery is a “fresh start” in his diocese, and that he is grateful to have nuns there who are dedicated to prayer for the spiritual needs of local Catholics. Calling the news “a moment of extraordinary grace for our local Church,” Olson explained that the new Carmelite monastery, “the Carmel of Jesus Crucified, will be a place where the beauty of contemplative life radiates outward into the world. Through prayer, silence, work, and sacrifice, the Discalced Carmelite nuns will accompany the faithful and intercede for the needs of our communities.”
Vatican News
Lebanon faces renewed instability
By Nathan Morley, December 3, 2025
Lebanon, home to the largest Christian population in the Middle East, is facing renewed instability as fighting between Israel and Hezbollah continues. On Tuesday, the United Nations began its largest drawdown of peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, citing budget cuts and a decision to extend the UNIFIL mandate for only one year. The force says Israel has violated the ceasefire more than 10,000 times since it was signed in November 2024, with more than 300 people killed. Earlier this week, Israeli warplanes struck Beirut’s southern suburbs, killing a senior Hezbollah commander. Lebanon, which also hosts about 1 million Syrian and Palestinian refugees, is struggling with a deep economic crisis that began in 2019, leaving the country mired in inflation, poverty and political paralysis.
Related: Officials from Israel and Lebanon hold first direct talks in decades in Naqoura, The Times of Israel, By AFP and Lazar Berman, December 3, 2025
Prime Asia News
Violence against women: Hidden wound in former Soviet countries
By Vladimir Rozanskij, December 3, 2025
On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the website Currentime sought to compare the situation regarding femicide in various regions, from Eastern Europe to the Baltic, from the Caucasus to Central Asia. As Sofia, a Russian women’s rights activist, states, ‘femicide is gender-based murder,’ and it is precisely this specific content that distinguishes it from ‘murders of women.’ Female identity provokes excessive jealousy stemming from a desire for domination and submission of women, who are forced to perform mainly domestic tasks, the unsatisfactory performance of which arouses the murderous rage of the male master. A researcher from Central Asia, under the pseudonym Ajnura, explains that “according to our investigations, most of the time femicide is the end result of years of domestic violence, perpetrated by partners or close relatives, rarely by strangers outside the family circle, except when linked to kidnappings or maniacal persecution.”
Crux
Lebanon hopes Leo’s visit boosts Christians’ civil rights
By Elise Ann Allen, December 2, 2025
Pastors and religious leaders in Lebanon voiced hope that Pope Leo’s visit to the country would give a boost to the national and regional peace process and help guarantee Christians in the area their civil rights. After meeting with Lebanese bishops, clergy, and religious, Pope Leo had a private meeting with the four Catholic patriarchs of Lebanon. Patriarch Youssef III Younan of Antioch said, “This visit of the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV is very significant for us in Lebanon as well as for the Near East, where Christians are dwindling in numbers. It’s very sad to say, but it’s the truth,” he said. “We need the real support of those in the international scene to help those who are discriminated, who need civil rights in their own countries … we Christians in Lebanon and the Near East, we are not a migrated people, or refugees, or coming for work in our own countries. We are there, the remnants of those who have been there for millennia.”
From Loop & Agency to Pillar Post for 12/3/25
CatholicVote: Daily LOOP
Read daily news and political impact stories at the “LOOP”
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TRUMP: US MAY STRIKE VENEZUELA ‘VERY SOON’ - President Donald Trump warned yesterday that U.S. land-based military strikes in Venezuela may come “very soon,” further escalating his pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Hours earlier, Pope Leo cautioned the U.S. against invading, urging dialogue instead.
RECORD CONVERSIONS AT ARIZONA STATE’S NEWMAN CENTER - Arizona State University’s Newman Center received a record 52 students into the Church Nov. 30. It was standing room only at the Mass, with more than 600 people filling a 450-seat church to witness the crowd of young converts. The center’s director told CatholicVote that Generation Z is “hungry for truth, belonging, and an unwavering Catholic faith.”
CATHOLICS TO LAUNCH BIGGEST BIBLE STUDY IN US - The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, founded by Dr. Scott Hahn and based in Steubenville, Ohio, is in the midst of a national Scripture initiative it believes is the largest group Bible study in the United States. The study is free during a monthly trial, with prices starting at $108 a year for students.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — December 3, 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 activities of the Holy See, available to anyone with internet access.
Latin patriarch of Jerusalem’s visit to U.S. will spotlight plight of Holy Land Christians - Dec 3, 2025 - By Martin Barillas - The Archdiocese of Detroit will welcome Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, for a pastoral visit Dec. 4–7.
The unlikely hero of India: St. Francis Xavier - Dec 3, 2025 - By Peter Pinedo - St. Francis Xavier is a patron saint of missionaries and missions who led an unlikely life of adventure and heroism, full of unexpected twists and turns, taking the faith to the ends of the earth during the 16th Century.
U.S. Catholic bishops award over $7.8 million for mission dioceses - Dec 2, 2025 - By Tyler Arnold\ - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops allocated more than $7.8 million for American mission dioceses. Recipients include the Diocese of Rapid City’s Standing Rock Reservation Ministry, which serves the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
The Pillar
Pillar Post for Tuesday, 12/3/25
The Pillar offers a news summary and a capsule take on Catholic News. Here’s JD Flynn’s analysis of the news from yesterday in the Pillar Post:
The kidnappings come amid a rise in violence against Christians and a growing trend of school kidnappings for ransom. In that vein, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has declared a “nationwide security emergency.”
His appointment as an auxiliary bishop last month makes him one of more than half a dozen “continent-crossing” bishops appointed in Leo’s reign — men appointed to be bishops far from the places where they were born.
In a blow to fans of ecclesiastical nicknames, Pope Leo XIV named last week the Polish churchman dubbed the “Lynx of Łódź” as the next Archbishop of Kraków. The move has gained a lot of attention — Krakow, the one-time see of Pope St. John Paul II, is a big appointment, and “The Lynx” was reportedly a favorite of Pope Francis.
Nutshell reflections for 12/3/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - December 3, 2025
Memorial of Saint Francis Xavier, Priest
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
A Thanksgiving to remember, 1891, after Wounded Knee
By James K. Hanna, November 26, 2025
Less than 12 moths after the 1890 tragedy of Wounded Knee, Army chaplain Father Edward Vattmann began a Thanksgiving tradition in South Dakota—a tradition of worship and meal that he maintained annually the rest of his life wherever he lived—Army posts and later, his adopted hometown of Wilmette, Illinois—and is continued today, 134 years later, in a little town in Texas that bears his name. Within days of the massacre, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Father Vattmann, then age 50, to the chaplaincy, and the Ohio priest was sent to South Dakota, thrown into the aftermath of the tragedy. In Up from Handymen: The United States Army Chaplaincy 1865-1920 historian Earl Stover writes “The Adjutant General would have been hard pressed to have recruited a better man for the assignment.”
CRUX
Moscow’s absence from Turkey was conspicuous and significant
By Christopher R. Altieri, November 30, 2025
Pope Leo XIV spoke to leaders of Christianity’s divided Churches and communities on Friday afternoon in Nicaea – modern-day Iznik, Turkey – telling them, “We must strongly reject the use of religion for justifying war, violence, or any form of fundamentalism or fanaticism.” No one from the Patriarchate of Moscow was there to hear it. That was because, “The Catholics have invited Catholics, and the Orthodox invite[d] Orthodox,” as the head of the Vatican’s ecumenical dicastery, Cardinal Kurt Koch, put it. The absence of representatives from the Russian Orthodox Church was nevertheless conspicuous, a sign of the persistent chill in both the internal relations of the great Churches of global Orthodoxy and in relations between Rome and Moscow.
National Catholic Register
Pope’s spirituality based on ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’
By Elias Turk/CNA/ACI Mena, December 2, 2025
Pope Leo XIV has begun conversations with U.S. President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the need to halt violence and seek solutions in the Middle East, the Pope told journalists on his Tuesday flight from Beirut to Rome. The wide-ranging news conference also touched on Ukraine, the Catholic Church in Germany, and Leo’s own election as pope, among other topics. In response to a question about how he is learning to be Pope, Leo recommended a book that he said has shaped his own life by the 17th-century Carmelite friar known as Brother Lawrence. “If you want to know something about me,” he said, “read The Practice of the Presence of God. It describes a way of prayer where one simply gives his life to the Lord and allows the Lord to lead. That has been my spirituality for many years.”
Catholic Exchange
Meditate on Psalm 80 for Advent
By Derek Rotty, December 3, 2025
Psalm 80 stands out prominently among the Psalms that express a longing for God’s mercy and hopeful expectation of His mighty work of salvation. One of the few not written by King David, it highlights themes of desolation, waiting, and hopeful expectation. By those same themes, it provides rich fodder for our own meditation as we move through this season of Advent. The primary theme—the single word we can take with us after praying with the psalm—is restoration. This theme is found especially in the psalm’s refrain, which appears first in the third verse: “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!” Slight variations of the same exclamation appear two more times throughout, specifically in verses seven and nineteen. This refrain reminds us of the truth that it is God’s turning toward us, His revelation of His shining face, by which we are restored and saved.
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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