Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 11/12/25
Topics include: Archbishop Paul S. Coakley elected; ‘Leonine era’; Penn promotes left-leaning news outlets; & Few sacraments given at times of crisis
“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
Archbishop Paul S. Coakley is elected new USCCB president
By Tyler Arnold, November 11, 2025
Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City, elected to serve as the next president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in a secret ballot on Nov. 11, will serve a three-year term as president, succeeding the former president, Archbishop Timothy Broglio. He has a history of promoting a culture of life, opposing gender ideology, and supporting migrants. Coakley’s defense of a culture of life is a continuation of Broglio’s leadership on the subject. Coakley has criticized the Oklahoma government for its support of the death penalty. He said in the statement that “illegal immigration is wrong, and renewed efforts should be considered to protect our nation’s borders.” In February, he mentioned concerns about human and drug trafficking but said the majority of people who entered the country illegally “are upstanding members of our communities and churches, not violent criminals.”
Crux
Pope ready to formally reveal the ‘Leonine era’ with cardinals
By Christopher R. Altieri, November 12, 2025
Scheduled for Jan. 7-8, 2026, Pope Leo is gathering the world’s cardinals, not for the creation of new cardinals, but to give the cardinals a chance to meet and talk together. Such meetings were few and far between during the Francis pontificate, a fact many cardinals privately lamented. It will present an opportunity for the still-new pontiff to share his plans for the future with the cardinals. Leo XIV has a difficult needle to thread. He must demonstrate to the cardinals that he is his own man, while maintaining continuity with his maverick predecessor and with all his other predecessors. It is a little like the old business maxim. Big, Fast, Good: You can have any two. Leo needs three: To be himself, to be somehow in continuity with Francis, and to be in continuity with the history of the Petrine office itself. The upcoming consistory is an opportunity for the new pontiff to mark the Leonine era.
CatholicVote
Penn’s education office promotes left-leaning news outlets
By Elise Winland, November 11, 2025
The Pennsylvania Department of Education is promoting an “Information and Media Literacy Toolkit” in K-12 schools that directs students toward predominantly left-leaning news outlets, according to the United States Parents Involved in Education (USPIE). The toolkit — touted as a guide to help children navigate disinformation — identifies outlets including NPR, the BBC, The Guardian, Reuters, Al-Jazeera, The Hill, Vox, and the Associated Press as “trusted,” while listing only one conservative-leaning outlet, The Dispatch. “Under the guise of fighting so-called ‘disinformation,’ the state is training children to rely on media outlets that relentlessly promote left-wing narratives and attack conservatives,” wrote USPIE. Critics say the toolkit amounts to taxpayer-funded indoctrination.
Aleteia
US bishops to consecrate nation to Sacred Heart
By Kathleen N. Hattrup, November 12, 2025
The U.S. Bishops voted November 11 at their biannual General Assembly to consecrate the United States to the Sacred Heart during the 250th anniversary of the nation in 2026. The bishops voted overwhelmingly (215 to 8) to recognize the signing of the US Declaration of Independence by publicly dedicating the country to Christ. The dedication will take place on June 12, 2026 (the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart). Pope Francis’ last encyclical was about devotion to the Sacred Heart, called “Dilexit nos“ (He Loved Us). Many countries around the world have been dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Earlier this year, Irish bishops renewed the consecration of their country, which first occurred 152 years prior. While the United States has been formally consecrated to Mary several times (its patroness is the Immaculate Conception), this will be the first formal consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Pillar
German bishop breaks ranks over schools document
By Luke Coppen, November 11, 2025
Bishop Stefan Oster, a German bishop, publicly distanced himself Monday from a document on “the diversity of sexual identities” in schools issued by the country’s bishops’ conference. He is one of four German diocesan bishops who openly criticized the country’s controversial “synodal way,” a 2019-2023 initiative that sought sweeping changes to Catholic teaching and practice. In an evaluation of the new document entitled “Do we still believe what we believe?” Oster criticized its underlying vision of the human person, saying it did not reflect his views. “Even though the cover of the booklet says ‘The German bishops,’ the text does not speak on my behalf,” he wrote. The 48-page document was issued Oct. 31 by the German bishops’ conference’s commission for education and schools, after reportedly heated discussions among bishops.
Vatican News
French apparitions in Dozulé, France declared ‘not supernatural’
By Vatican News, November 12, 2025
The Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith has determined that “the phenomenon of the alleged apparitions said to take place in Dozulé” linked to the creation of an enormous cross that would guarantee remission of sins and salvation to those who approached it, “is to be considered, definitively, as not supernatural in origin.” The decision was approved by Pope Leo XIV on November 3. In the French town of Dozulé, Jesus is said to have appeared 49 times between 1972 and 1978 to Madeleine Aumont, a mother, asking for the construction of the so-called “Glorious Cross of Dozulé,” which was never built. A letter from the dicastery highlights several problematic elements in the messages associated with the phenomenon, including the comparison of “the cross requested in Dozulé with the Cross of Jerusalem.”
Agenzia Fides
Annual Mali Marian pilgrimage cancelled for security reasons
By Agenzia Fides, November 12, 2025
The Bishops’ Conference of Mali announced that it has decided to cancel the 54th National Marian Pilgrimage to Kita due to transportation difficulties and fuel shortages caused by the blockade of the capital, Bamako, by the JNIM jihadists. The Conference called on the faithful to “spend a time of prayer and spiritual communion with the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Mali, during the planned pilgrimage,” in the hope that “every individual’s prayer may be an intercession for peace, unity, and prosperity in our country.” The jihadist group JNIM (Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, “Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims”) carries out attacks on residential areas such as Kati. It continues to perpetrate numerous kidnappings of foreigners.
National Catholic Register
Sacraments at times of crisis not administered as in the past
By Matthew McDonald, November 11, 2025
The Register contacted pastors across the country to ask whether emergency personnel call them to life-threatening situations. For the most part, the answer is No. When a multi-ton pile of clay covered a steam-shovel fireman in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early December 1952, a 40-year-old Catholic priest had himself lowered upside down into a hole workers had dug to try to save the man. “Only the tips of the priest’s heels were visible as his murmured prayers were heard above,” The Boston Globe reported the next day. Priests still frequently offer confession, Eucharist, and anointing of the sick at hospitals, of course, but not so much at the scenes of accidents. It’s not common anymore. Father Gerard Braun, pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Fargo, North Dakota, said he can recall only two requests from local police, both to notify a family of death, in his four-plus years at the parish.
From Loop & Agency to Pillar Post for 11/12/25
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.”
FLORIDA AG CONFRONTS MICROSOFT OVER DISCRIMINATION - Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier sent a letter to Microsoft’s CEO last week and demanded that the company cease its religious discrimination practices against faith-based nonprofit organizations.
POPE APPOINTS NIGERIAN PRIEST TO PONTIFICAL HOUSEHOLD POST - Pope Leo XIV has appointed Father Edward Daniang Daleng, O.S.A., who has served as general counsellor and procurator general of the Order of Saint Augustine, as Vice-Regent of the Prefecture of the Papal Household.
HOUSTON’S SACRED ART PROJECT - Our Church needs a new “epiphany” of beauty and art, as is so clear by walking into just about any suburban church. Houston is bringing back sacred art through showcases and contests. Check out how they’re pulling it off, and maybe you’ll see how possible it is to bring sacred art into your own parishes!
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — November 12, 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.
Artificial intelligence is not an all-powerful deity, university expert warns - Nov 12, 2025 - By Nicolás de Cárdenas - Ana Lazcano of the University Institute of Artificial Intelligence (AI) at Francisco de Vitoria University in Spain, proposed an approach to AI from a specifically Catholic perspective, quoting Pope Leo XIV: “Not to be afraid of it, to understand it, to approach it with great caution.”
Overturned bus injures dozens returning from California Catholic youth retreat - Nov 11, 2025 - By Kate Quiñones - As a group of mostly teenagers made its way home from a Catholic youth retreat in the mountains of Southern California this past weekend, the bus rolled over at a winding turn, injuring 26.
Immigration is a ‘personal one because we’re pastors,’ U.S. bishops say - Nov 11, 2025 - By Tessa Gervasini - U.S. bishops said immigration enforcement in the United States is a “crisis situation” affecting human dignity and religious liberty.
The Pillar
Pillar Post for Tuesday, 11/11/25
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 U.S. bishops will hear a presentation on the prospect of advancing the canonization cause of a charismatic Jesuit priest who served the poor in the desert of southern Texas and New Mexico, and across the border in the slums of Juarez, Mexico.
As the bishops elect new leadership this week — and approve a budget — their organization is in the midst of a significant financial shift, with more than half of USCCB revenue coming in the form of pass-through government dollars, and all of that set now to turn off.
The Pillar broke the news Sunday that the bishops are expected to discuss the prospective merger of the Diocese of Steubenville during their closed-door executive sessions this week — the latest in a years-long will-they-or-wont-they saga for the Appalachian Ohio diocese.
Nutshell reflections for 11/12/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - November 12, 2025
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
The Obscure, Forgotten, and Undiscovered
Doomer Optimism - ‘Positive solutions, despite it all’
By James K. Hanna, November 12, 2025
This past weekend, I had a brief immersion experience at a “doomer optimist” gathering. I was asked to serve on a panel and give a short talk on the life and writings of Sister Fides Shepperson, who I suspect would consider herself a doomer optimist were she living today: pacifist, poet, philosopher, she spent her life opposing the machinery of warfare. I came away totally impressed with a great sense of community, energy, and, yes, optimism. Suffice it to say that for every challenge identified, corresponding solutions were floated. A Doomer Optimism podcast can be found here. I also recommend The Savage Collective on Substack to learn more. “The Savage Collective is a Pittsburgh-based fellowship of writers, scholars, and tradesmen aiming to promote flourishing lives among working-class Americans by examining and improving the conditions of labor in the Machine Age.”
CRUX
A lesson in obedience from Dietrich Bonhoeffer
By Sean Mitchell, November 11, 2025
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a man whose life and virtues every Christian man should know and emulate. Even a cursory reading of his biography Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy gives one the sense that he achieved that fully human life that all men desire, but so few obtain. Bonhoeffer was a genius theologian, an excellent musician, a solid athlete and simply a man who enjoyed the good things of life. Especially worthy of note is the tight-knit bond and faithful devotion that Bonhoeffer had to his extraordinary family. Most important of all, however, was Bonhoeffer’s unshakeable faith in God and courage to stand up against injustice. This faith and courage led to Bonhoeffer’s death at the hands of the Nazis for his love and defense of the Jews, which led ultimately to his involvement in a plot to assassinate Hitler.
National Catholic Register
Can I celebrate my parents’ anniversary if the marriage is invalid?
By E. Christian Brugger, November 10, 2025
It is often hard to reconcile fidelity to Church teaching with affection for one’s family and the wish for unity. Fidelity to demanding truths can, at times, cause unintended alienation. Before accepting that outcome, one must be sure that truth truly requires it. Your desire to act with both integrity and charity is admirable and deserves a response marked by compassion and prudence. Unless the Church later recognizes a marriage through a formal canonical process, it remains invalid. At the same time, a mother and father’s union, although invalid, has still been the context in which God gave you life and nurtured your communal bonds. It may well have been the context for genuine affection and self-sacrificial love. To treat such a relationship as only a matter of sin or deception would fail to account for whatever goodness may be found there.
Catholic Exchange
Spiritually adopt a child in danger of abortion
By Susan Furlong, November 12, 2025
November is National Adoption Month, instituted to raise awareness of the impact of adoption on children and families. It’s a month close to my heart. Years ago, my husband and I completed our family of six with the adoption of a two-year-old girl from China. Not everyone is called to adopt a child, but each of us is invited to embrace the spirit of adoption in our own way. As Catholics, we can reflect on this truth through the beautiful devotion of Spiritual Adoption, popularized by Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen. Archbishop Fulton Sheen introduced the concept of spiritual adoption as a means for the faithful to bear witness to Catholic teachings on the sanctity of life: “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception…” (CCC 2270).
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