Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 9/17/25
Topics include: ‘Gap year’ before college a holy thing; 1 in 5 Americans ‘strongly agree’ with assisted suicide; Persons with disabilities in the Curia; & China bans online evangelization
“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”
Today's sources are the CRUX, Catholic Culture, National Catholic Register, CatholicVote, The Pillar, OSV, and CNA. (Catholic Nutshell is a subscription service for faithful, hopeful, & curious Catholics willing to exercise the Catholic News Muscle)
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Our Sunday Visitor
‘Gap year’ before college: A pilgrimage to know yourself in Christ
By Cecilia Hadley, September 16, 2025
Taking a “gap year” between levels of schooling, first popularized in Great Britain in the late 1970s, has recently gained traction in the U.S., with social scientists studying their psychological benefits and Harvard academics touting them in the Harvard Business Review. If the expression is relatively new, the idea is ancient, says David Douglas, executive director of the St. Therese Institute of Faith and Mission in Saskatchewan, Canada. “A gap year is not some modern concept,” he explained. “It’s a type of pilgrimage.” Like a pilgrim, someone taking a gap year — even if he or she doesn’t literally travel — steps outside of normal life for a time and, hopefully, “comes back … with renewed vision and renewed sense of self and of purpose in the world. This is the most important project of your life: to know yourself in Christ.”
Catholic News Agency
1 in 5 Americans said they ‘strongly agree’ with assisted suicide
By Amira Abuzeid, September 17, 2025
A new Lifeway Research study reveals that a slim majority of Americans, 51%, believe terminally ill individuals should have the right to request physician-assisted suicide. The study, titled “American Views on Assisted Suicide,” found that 51% of respondents consider it morally acceptable for someone with a painful terminal disease to seek a physician’s assistance in ending his or her life. However, the support is not robust, according to the study: Only 1 in 5 Americans said they “strongly agree” with this stance, while 30% said they “somewhat agree.” The study found 34% opposed to physician-assisted suicide, with the remainder undecided. Regionally, support varies, with urban and coastal areas showing higher approval (up to 60% in some places) compared with rural or Southern states.
Catholic Culture
Vatican encourages hiring persons with disabilities in the Curia
By Vatican News, September 16, 2025
In an August 4 audience with Cardinal Pietro Parolin (his Secretary of State), Pope Leo XIV approved decisions of the Labor Office of the Apostolic See that promote the hiring of persons with disabilities. Cardinal Parolin, in turn, issued an August 11 rescript that was published over a month later. The General Regulations of the Roman Curia now state the “employment of persons with disabilities is to be promoted in a spirit of welcome and, where necessary, through the adoption of appropriate and specific measures, since the condition of disability does not preclude suitability for work.” One regulation formerly stated that new employees should be in a “state of good health.” It now states that new employees should have “psycho-physical suitability for the duties to be carried out.”
CRUX
Spain’s Santiago de Compostela is latest ‘overtourism’ flashpoint
By Teresa Medrano/AP, September 15, 2025
While some Barcelona residents want to repel a tsunami of tourists with plastic water pistols, a neighborhood association in Santiago de Compostela opted for a friendlier approach: A guide to good manners for visitors to their town, the endpoint of the Catholic world’s most famous pilgrimage. It reminded tourists to keep noise down, respect traffic rules, and use plastic protectors on hiking poles to avoid damaging the narrow cobblestone streets, among other things. Yet, large groups still take over the streets singing hymns, bikes ride in the wrong direction, and metal pole tips clatter against the ground. Santiago’s social media is awash with photos denouncing a lack of decorum. Tourists’ greater offense, though, stems from their sheer numbers. Santiago emerges as the latest global destination where longtime residents have grown embittered by the overtourism transforming their community.
The Pillar
China bans online evangelization & ‘foreign collusion’ by clerics
By The Pillar, September 16, 2025
Chinese authorities have issued new rules governing the online conduct of religious leaders in the country, banning unauthorized streaming of liturgies, children’s catechesis, and “collusion with overseas forces” through any online activity. Bishops and clerics who reject the supremacy of the state over Church affairs in the country have been subject to harassment and arrest. Chinese state media published the Code of Conduct for Religious Teachers and Personnel on Sept. 15. The code, 18 articles long, also bans raising money online for religious purposes, including the construction of churches. The regulations appear to apply to all online communications, including email, and require that all “religious teachers and officials” model behavior online that demonstrates “love the motherland, support [for] the leadership of the Communist Party of China, support [for] the socialist system, [and] abide by national laws and regulations.”
Vatican News
Vatican News is available in 56 languages
By Vatican News, April 2, 2025
Vatican News has expanded its multilingual service by adding Azerbaijani. As of April 2, 2025, and on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of Saint John Paul II — the first Pope to visit Azerbaijan — Vatican News is now available in 56 languages, including Italian, Spanish, English, and French sign languages. Azerbaijani is not only spoken in Azerbaijan but by around 30 million Azerbaijanis worldwide. Paolo Ruffini, Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, stressed that “every fabric is made up of countless interwoven threads, and so too is our communication network.” He added, “Our dream is to create a platform where Catholic communities across the world are fully connected, enabling them to share not only texts, images, and audio in real time but also the lived experience of the Church, wherever they may be.” [According to Wikipedia, the closest news organization’s language reach to Vatican News is the BBC, with 42 language options.]
UCA News
Controversy over 2027 World Youth Day in Seoul, South Korea
By UCA News reporter, September 10, 2025
South Korea’s move to enact a special law to support hosting World Youth Day in Seoul has become contentious with public criticisms, which a Church official said stems from misunderstandings. The government proposed a special law to help it allocate public funds for organising safety measures, infrastructure, and public services. Critics viewed it as a proposal to allocate money to help a Church program, Church officials said. The Special Act on Supporting World Youth Day Seoul 2027 has been pending in South Korea’s National Assembly since November last year. It aims to provide a legal framework for supporting the global youth event, officials said. The event — scheduled for August 2027 — is expected to draw about one million young people, 400,000 of them from abroad. Pope Leo XIV is also to attend the program as a state guest.
National Catholic Register
Likely defeat of England’s assisted suicide bill
By Edward Pentin, September 16, 2025
Attempts to push through a bill to allow assisted suicide in England and Wales have run up against significant resistance in the upper chamber of the British parliament, with legislators predicting that the bill is now on course to be defeated. The House of Lords held a record-breaking debate on the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on Sept. 12, with an unusually high number of peers taking part. An analysis of the speeches, completed by the pro-life advocacy group Right To Life UK, showed that 67% of the peers spoke in opposition to the bill, with 33% saying in favor. This is in contrast to the House of Commons, which by a narrow margin has already passed its third reading. Furthermore, as the proposed legislation is not a government bill (called a private member’s bill) and was not part of a manifesto promise at the last general election, the House of Lords has considerably more powers over this bill than other bills. It is constitutionally entitled to block or heavily amend it.
From Loop & Agency to Pillar Post for 9/17/25
CatholicVote: Daily 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.”
BISHOP BARRON: KIRK'S ASSASSINATION SIGNALS A CULTURAL CRISIS -Bishop Robert Barron reflected on the cultural weight of Charlie Kirk’s assassination this week, arguing that his death is significant not just for its tragedy, but because of how he died: with a microphone in his hand.
CATHOLIC LAWMAKER FIGHTS ASSISTED SUICIDE - A Catholic congressman is urging the Centers for Disease Control to investigate doctors prescribing assisted suicide for eating disorders. “Suicide is not healthcare,” Rep. Riley M. Moore, R-W.Va., said. “Counseling patients to pursue assisted suicide for eating disorders like anorexia is inhumane.”
IRISH ABORTION ACTIVIST JUDGE REPORTED FOR HEARING PRO-LIFE CASE - Citing impartiality concerns, Claire Brennan filed a complaint that Deputy County Court Judge Ciaran Moynagh was given the “Humanist of the Year” award in 2018 by Humanists UK for his legal activism for abortion. He has also campaigned for same-sex “marriage” and transgenderism.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — September 17, 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 happenings of the Holy See to anyone with internet access.
Homilies across U.S. take stock of Charlie Kirk assassination - Sep 16, 2025 - By Madalaine Elhabbal - Catholic priests around the country have discussed the assassination of Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk during their homilies.
UN expert joins detransitioner in urging governments to protect parental rights - Sep 16, 2025 - By Madalaine Elhabbal - U.N. Expert on Violence Against Women and Girls Reem Alsalem has encouraged governments to support parents in protecting their children from “gender transition” medical interventions.
Parents of Annunciation shooting victim say daughter’s progress is a ‘miracle’ - Sep 16, 2025 - By Kate Quiñones - The parents of 12-year-old Sophia Forchas, who was shot in the head during the Annunciation Catholic School shooting, say her progress has been “miraculous.”
The Pillar
Pillar Post for Friday, 9/16/25
The Pillar offers a daily news summary, their capsule take on the Catholic News. Here’s J.D. Flynn’s analysis of the news from yesterday’s Pillar Post:
The “caviar diplomacy” of the Azerbaijan government continues in Rome - An Azeri government-affiliated foundation signed an agreement last week with the Vatican’s Apostolic Library and the Apostolic Archives, and the Azeri Ministry of Health signed a cooperation plan with the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital.
Ireland’s Maria Steen is a practicing Catholic - Steen has a history of speaking out on abortion and same-sex marriage in the country. She has a history of political and media presence in Ireland, and is a successful attorney. She is also running for President of Ireland. At least, she’s trying to.
Is this the last gasp of India’s rebellion against the Church’s authority? - A priest known for his social activism resigned as the vicar of a parish in India’s Ernakulam-Angamaly archeparchy on Sunday after he was asked to celebrate the Syro-Malabar Church’s new uniform Eucharistic liturgy.
Nutshell reflections for 9/17/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - September 17, 2025
Wednesday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time
Aleteia
Pope Leo: ‘We do not have to be in a hurry to rise again’
By Kathleen N. Hattrup, September 17, 2024
Taking up a unique reflection on Holy Saturday, Pope Leo, this September 17, considered the day before the Resurrection as a day of rest. “We struggle to stop and rest. We live as if life were never enough. We rush to produce, to prove ourselves, to keep up. But the Gospel teaches us that knowing how to stop is an act of trust that we must learn to perform. Holy Saturday invites us to discover that life does not always depend on what we do, but also on how we know how to take leave of what we have been able to do. In the tomb, Jesus, the living Word of the Father, is silent. But it is precisely in that silence that the new life begins to ferment. Like a seed in the ground, like the darkness before dawn. God is not afraid of the passing time, because he is also the God of waiting.” This reflection is a continuation of Pope Leo's audience series on particular moments of the Passion.
National Catholic Register
Benedict XVI’s answer to ‘Is faith reasonable’ still resonates
By Daniel B. Gallagher, September 17, 2025
Is it reasonable to believe that a man named Jesus is the Son of God who, fully divine himself and without forsaking his divinity, was born of a Virgin, died, rose and ascended into heaven? Stephen P. White revisited Pope Benedict XVI’s talk in the United Kingdom in September 2010, where, in Westminster Hall, the Holy Father not only offered one of the freshest and finely articulated responses to the question, but actually turned it on its head. Rather than ask whether faith is reasonable, why not ask whether Europe and her legacy are reasonable without Christianity? Why not ask whether political institutions rooted in the “Western tradition,” broadly speaking, are comprehensible apart from the distinctive marks Christian Revelation and faith have left with them? “If the moral principles underpinning the democratic process are themselves determined by nothing more solid than social consensus, then the fragility of the process becomes all too evident,” Benedict said.
Catholic Gentlemen
Two ways to sin against hope
By Jason Craig, September 3, 2025
Presumption, the first abuse of God’s mercy, is a sort of “perverted security,” as St. Augustine called it. It takes the promise of salvation and makes it a “sure” thing. The modern catechism offers two ways we “presume” upon God: “Either man presumes upon his own capacities, (hoping to be able to save himself without help from on high), or he presumes upon God’s almighty power or his mercy (hoping to obtain his forgiveness without conversion and glory without merit).” The other distortion or denial of hope is despair. If presumption overthinks the power of man, despair underthinks the power of God. Despairing man thinks his sins are so great as to tie the hands of God, essentially saying He can do all things, except fix the broken man. As the saints often point out, both Peter and Judas sinned grievously when Jesus’ trial and cross were at hand.
Missio Dei
‘They are like children who sit in the marketplace’
By Andrew McGovern, September 17, 2025
“Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? They are like children who sit in the marketplace …” (Luke 7:31-35). The analogy that Our Lord presents is wrapped up in expectation. He cites the actions of playing the flute and singing a dirge as actions that ought to have produced dancing and weeping respectively but they did not and so the children are upset because they are not getting their way. The purpose of this parabolic statement is that Our Lord is chastising the people, and in the larger context of the discussion, the Pharisees, for focusing only on their expectations of who and what the Messiah was going to be. They were looking for one thing and got something wholly different, and it upset them. Are we the children of this generation who get upset when we don’t get what we want?
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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