Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 7/1/26
Catholics should know: SSPX consecrates bishops in defiance; Dorothy Day’s faith-based alternative; Victories for parental rights, women’s sports; & The ‘nones’ are everywhere
“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
SSPX consecrates bishops in defiance of Rome’s schism warning
By Victoria Cardiel, July 1, 2026
Pope Leo XIV is not even two years into his pontificate and he is already facing one of the most delicate episodes of his ministry: a new rupture within the Church. In a defiant move and despite repeated warnings from Rome, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) went ahead on Wednesday with the consecration of four new bishops without a pontifical mandate — an act of open disobedience to the authority of the pope that, under canon law, carries automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved. The Vatican’s official response is now awaited and could include a formal declaration of schism, as Rome had warned in the days leading up to the ceremony. In 1988, after Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the SSPX, consecrated bishops without a papal mandate, Rome responded two days later. On July 2, St. John Paul II published the motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, in which he spoke openly of a “rupture” of ecclesial communion and created a commission to help reconcile faithful linked to the society.
Related: Lefebvrians Respond to the Pope with an Open Letter: “Far be it from us to separate ourselves from the Roman Church”, ZENIT Staff, July 1, 2026
OSV News
Dorothy Day’s faith-based alternative to secularist progressivism
By Russell Shaw, July 1, 2026
There was a time when many Catholics, not just stuffy pastors, held the view of Dorothy Day and her group as dangerous. Some still may. But the Church is thinking of declaring her a saint. Day was co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement and longtime editor of the penny-a-copy newspaper of the same name. From the mid-1930s to the early 1980s, she preached radical Christianity and no less radical social activism to a sometimes appreciative, sometimes puzzled, sometimes angry audience of American Catholics. The gospel according to Day was a heady mix of the inspiring and the infuriating. Finding and living a practical synthesis between faith and radical social causes now was a growing concern for Day. She was an uncompromising pacifist. Day’s principal lasting influence on American Catholicism may have been to show a faith-based alternative to secularist progressivism.
National Catholic Register
Victories for parental rights, women’s sports and free speech
By Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer, June 30, 2026
The Supreme Court has closed its books on a consequential term that delivered significant wins for parental rights and free speech, disappointed prisoners seeking to remedy offenses against their religious liberty, redrew the boundaries of executive power, and closed with developments that serve as reminders of how much work remains. In characteristic brevity and wisdom, Justice Clarence Thomas added a brief concurring opinion that is worth noting. First, “transgender status is not a suspect class requiring heightened equal-protection scrutiny.” Second, “[m]en and boys with gender dysphoria are not women or girls, even if they believe that they are.” The Court declined to reinstate a lower court stay of the FDA’s loosened safety protocols for mifepristone, leaving the merits challenge to those rules still pending. And the Court declined to stop judicial review of a challenge to Peter’s Pence donations.
Zeale News
Public comment opens on religious liberty panel draft report
By Elise Winland, June 30, 2026
President Donald Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission released a 224-page draft report on June 26, following a yearlong review of religious liberty in the U.S., outlining recommendations to strengthen protections for religious Americans across public life. The DOJ said on its website that the draft report will remain open for public comment until July 12, giving Americans a chance to respond before the commission finalizes recommendations that could influence federal religious liberty policy. The draft includes 12 recommendations aimed at increasing religious freedom, including directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue guidance on the Establishment Clause, requiring federal agencies to distribute “Know Your Rights” materials, creating new reporting hotlines for religious liberty violations, and requiring officials who restrict religious expression to provide written explanations.
The PIllar
Why the cardinals ‘felt like a college again’ after consistory
By Edgar Beltrán, June 30, 2026
After the overwhelmingly positive response to his first consistory in January, some cardinals had expressed concern ahead of the June meeting over both the topics chosen and the methodology to be used. But while some cardinals remain apprehensive about that methodology, the overall response among cardinals after the June meeting was positive, especially about Leo’s ongoing intention to consult regularly with cardinals in future consistories. Most cardinals welcomed in January what they saw as Pope Leo’s sincere intention to use the College of Cardinals as a consultative body, after Pope Francis had convened only three consistories in his 12-year pontificate and rarely consulted a wide body of cardinals. After the June meeting, cardinals told The Pillar that the most positive and lasting effect of that consistory was the sense that the College of Cardinals has been consolidated as the pontiff’s preeminent consultative body.
Vatican News
‘Gaza is a disaster … do not leave the Holy Land alone’
By Guglielmo Gallone, July 1, 2026
“There is a need for empathy toward those who do not think as we do,” said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, after receiving on Monday, June 29, in Bergamo, Italy, the Limes Prize for Dialogue and Peace, from the Italian geopolitical magazine Limes. “Gaza is a disaster,” the Cardinal emphasized during his conversation with Limes editor-in-chief Lucio Caracciolo. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem spoke about his visit to the Gaza Strip the previous week, on June 22–23, together with Theophilos III, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem. “The cities have been razed to the ground, leveled, wiped out. Rafah no longer exists. What strikes me most is traveling along makeshift roads, through tents and sewage. This is where the people of Gaza live,” he explained. “One thing the images do not convey is the smell. And one of the greatest scourges right now is the rats, which bite. They bite children above all, and Gaza is full of children—you see them everywhere, but instead of going to school, they play, dirty, beside the sewers.”
Graphs about Religion
The ‘nones’ are everywhere now
By Ryan Burge, June 29, 2026
Back in the 1970s, those who never attended religious services were basically non-existent, at only 10%. Now, never-attenders are 30-35%. The only region where weekly attenders outnumber never-attendees is rural America. Although that may end in the next 5-10 years, according to the rising trend. In every graph except the “rural” one, the nones now have the largest share, compared to weekly and monthly attenders. The other huge shift is that the largest Christian group is in large and small metros, where Catholics really dominate. Evangelicalism, as different from “mainline” churches, experienced clear gains, and a lot of that came at the expense of mainline Protestants. By the mid-1980s, evangelicals outnumbered the mainline, and that divide only widened. Among people living in smaller metros, almost a third are non-religious. This is suburban America.
The Jerusalem Post
Anglican Monastic Community Converts to Catholicism
By Alma Delia Recinas, June 30, 2026
Twelve nuns were received into the Catholic Church on January 1, 2013. The process took four years, and they faced a lack of understanding and painful opposition from many of their fellow Anglicans. When the Church of England separated from the Catholic Church in the 16th century, monasticism virtually disappeared from the Anglican Communion in England. King Henry VIII dissolved the convents and monasteries and confiscated their properties. Today, Religious Communities exist within Anglicanism that, while not being “Orders” exactly like those in the Catholic Church, do live a consecrated lifestyle characterized by vows, a Rule, and a mission. Many emerged in the 19th century alongside the Oxford Movement, which revived ancient monastic elements. Several Anglicans from Religious Communities have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church, particularly following the creation of Personal Ordinariates by Benedict XVI.
Keep informed - 7/1/26 news for Catholics
Snippets from Loop, Fides, & The Pillar
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.”
27 STATES ALLOWED TO BAR MEN FROM WOMEN’S SPORTS - The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 yesterday that states may reserve women’s and girls’ sports for only females under the 14th Amendment and Title IX, upholding laws in Idaho and West Virginia and setting a precedent for similar laws in 27 states. “May schools determine eligibility for women’s and girls’ sports based on biological sex?” Justice Kavanaugh wrote for the majority. “The answer is yes.”
RFK BRINGS BACK THE PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS TEST FOR SCHOOLCHILDREN - Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced that the Trump administration is restoring the Presidential Fitness Test — first introduced under President John F. Kennedy in the 1960s and phased out under Obama — with schools nationwide set to begin administering it this fall. Kennedy cited a growing childhood health crisis, noting that nearly one in five American children is overweight or obese, and 77% of young Americans are ineligible for military service.
A CENTURY LATER, MEXICO’S CRISTERO MARTYRS ARE NOT FORGOTTEN - One hundred years after Mexico’s Cristero Counterrevolution began, a Catholic priest is urging the faithful to remember the faithful who died defending the Church against government persecution — a history rarely taught in Mexican or American schools.
Fides News Agency (Fides)
Fide’s headlines — July 1, 2026
Fides was created on 5 June, 1927, by order of the Council Superior General of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, as the first Missionary Agency of the Church and among the first agencies in the world, at the service of informing and promoting missionary activity.
AFRICA/CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - Funeral held for Father Crépin, priest killed “perhaps to block the peace process in Zémio” - Bangui (Fides News Agency) – “Father Crépin was deeply committed to dialogue. It is possible that he was killed to block the peace process currently underway in Zémio,” Bishop Aurelio Gazzera of Bangassou.
“Saints have a past and sinners have a future.” Chinese Catholics celebrate Saints Peter and Paul, Patrons of the Church of Rome - Beijing (Fides News Agency) – An opportunity to pray that their faith may be as steadfast as that of St. Peter, firmly built upon the rock, and, like that of St. Paul, dynamic and fervent, always ready to proclaim the faith.
ASIA/BANGLADESH - Bishop Gomes: "The Rohingya crisis is growing more severe as international aid continues to decline" - Dhaka (Fides News Agency) – "The situation facing the Rohingya is extremely difficult. International funding is decreasing day by day, and some non-governmental organizations have been forced to suspend their activities.
The Pillar
Pillar Stories from the May calendar, 7/1/26
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:
Costs down but no ‘Leo bounce’: Peter’s Pence sees fall in revenue and expenses - The annual report noted that the fund continues to operate a deficit, though this was significantly reduced from previous years. According to the annual statement, income to the fund totaled 57.6 million euros in 2025, with expenses totaling 59.8 million euros.
Leo makes curia staff changes - Changes at the top of four dicasteries include the appointment of Sister Alessandra Smerilli, FMA, as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and Cardinal Fabio Baggio, CS, as pro-prefect, along with new changes to the Dicastery of Communications.
Leo named apostolic administrator after English bishop charged - Pope Leo XIV named an administrator Tuesday to oversee an English diocese after its bishop was charged with the rape of a minor. The police confirmed that Bishop David Oakley faced two counts of rape of a female under the age of 16, following an investigation into historical allegations.
July 1, 2026 - USCCB Daily Mass Readings
You can listen HERE or read HERE:
Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Today’s Catholic commentary:
Crisis Magazine
Life in Hillary’s village
By Greg Cook, July 1, 2026
“It takes a village,” declared then-First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1996, asserting that child-rearing could not be left in the hands of families but required state intervention. I suggest it takes a collective effort—consisting of local and state authorities, joined to cultural norms and aided by the Church—to destroy a village. I call it “Hillary’s Village,” and let’s see how things have changed here in the past 30 years. There’s a torrent of news about the rise of socialism in America and especially its capture of New York City. The socialists have not staged a coup in New York’s rural North Country region as they have in NYC, but a potentially fatal program has been corroding life here for decades. From what I can see, it is the same rot infecting vast swathes of nonurban America. Too many of us are being forced to live in Hillary’s Village, with its mistaken ideas — a focus on infrastructure rather than people. Indeed, workforce issues are rampant throughout the village and the surrounding hinterlands.
The Catholic Weekly
Neocatechumenal seminarians ordained deacons
By Tara Kennedy, July 1, 2026
Two Neocatechumenal Way seminarians have been ordained deacons at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. The seminary currently houses 11 seminarians from six countries and forms men for the diocesan priesthood in accordance with the spirituality of the Neocatechumenal Way, a post-baptismal catechumenate that seeks to help Catholics rediscover and deepen their faith while discerning their vocation. As part of their diaconal ministry, Deacon Tomelty will serve at Malabar Parish, while Deacon Arosemena Lozano has been appointed to Earlwood Parish. Preaching the homily, Bishop Percy reflected on the vocation and mission of the deacon, describing the ministry as one of proclamation, charity, and service at the altar. Their ordination marks the final stage of formation before priestly ordination, with both new deacons now beginning a period of pastoral ministry in their respective parishes.
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
I was a millionaire at age 10
By James K. Hanna, June 28, 2026
Or so I thought. In 1926, my grandfather, an immigrant from Syria, accepted a suitcase of German currency in payment of a debt, which remains a mystery. But it’s also family lore that he turned down shares of stock in Coca-Cola when first offered in 1919 (didn’t like the taste of the product). [Hanna’s found suitcase was stuffed with 10,000 Mark notes. He took one note and mailed it off to the West German government in Bonn, Germany for an assessment.] From my personal archives comes this story from 1963. “In regards to your letter of the 28th of August, 1963, I am informing you herby. After the destruction of the Kaiserreich at World War I, in Germany the money lost it’s value from year to year. In the year of 1924 saw the money almost worthless and the German economy could not go any further … The banknote for 10,000 Marks that you sent is hereby returned.”
Catholic 365
God is also in the darkness
By Marianne Giltner, July 1, 2025
Psalm 139:11-12: “If I say, surely the darkness will hide me, and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you: the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” This Psalm illuminates God’s presence and assures us that no darkness can ever overcome His Light. It brings comfort by reassuring believers that even in the darkest of moments, the most confusing or most desperate times of life, God is right there with you, seen and guiding you. The evil one wants us blinded by darkness. Therefore, making it difficult for us to see God’s light in all things. But if we understand that God’s light is so much greater than any darkness that could ever approach us, then the light shines through. Because God is that Light. Nothing will defeat God. Nothing. The darkness may seem strong, but God’s light is unwavering and makes the darkness's strength disappear.
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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