Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 2/25/26
Topics include: Leaving abortion to states ‘does not work'; US condemns Hamas terrorists; Mexico’s recent, long-hidden war; & Immigration shakes up the world
“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)
Click here to view this email on the Catholic Nutshell News website. Today’s Catholic Nutshell News audio podcast is available on the Substack App.
EWTN News
‘State of the Unborn’: Leaving issue to states ‘does not work’
By Tyler Arnold, February 24, 2026
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s Tuesday evening State of the Union address, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser delivered a “State of the Unborn” speech, — hope for the future but concern about Republican priorities. The U.S. Supreme Court delivered the pro-life movement one of its biggest wins in 2022 by overturning Roe v. Wade, which mandated legal abortion nationwide. Dannenfelser highlighted this decision as a major win but warned that more than 1 million abortions are still performed annually. “The handcuffs are off,” she said. “We are free to protect the human rights of people. We live in a new, fresh moment filled with hope for our children. And yet, there are now more abortions than before Dobbs — at least 1.1 million a year.” Dannenfelser said “the current strategy of leaving this issue to the states clearly does not work.” She cited the availability of the abortion drug mifepristone through the mail, which has led to out-of-state abortionists mailing the drugs into states with pro-life laws.
National Catholic Register
Leo XIV reestablishes the Episcopal Hierarchy in Rome
By Andrea Gagliarducci, February 24, 2026
Pope Leo XIV may set the tenor for how the Diocese of Rome relates to the See of Peter going forward, potentially digressing from the precedent set by the current Pontiff’s predecessors. Four new auxiliary bishops are expected to be appointed to the Diocese of Rome, following an upcoming meeting between the Pope and the diocesan prelates. The move would come after Pope Leo XIV’s decision to restore the central sector of the Diocese of Rome, which Pope Francis had abolished, thereby ending a long vacancy in some of the city’s territorial sectors. With the new bishop appointments, Leo XIV will have reestablished the episcopal hierarchy in the Diocese of Rome. While there are no major upheavals in the Diocese of Rome, the appointments could trigger a domino effect yet to be seen. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti’s five-year term as archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica also expires on Feb. 25.
CatholicVote/Zeale
First Catholic recipients of Museum of the Bible’s Pillar Award
By Mary Rose, February 24, 2026
The Museum of the Bible, an educational institution in Washington, D.C., recently presented Jeff Cavins, Catholic author and speaker, and Father Mike Schmitz, host of “The Bible in a Year” podcast, with the Pillar Award for Narrative, an honor recognizing those whose cultural works of media bring biblical stories to life. They are the first Catholics to receive the award. According to a Feb. 23 press release from Ascension Press, the award commends Cavins and Fr. Schmitz “for transforming how millions encounter Scripture.” Cavins received the award in part for his creation of “The Bible Timeline,” a Catholic Bible study that presents Scripture as a “unified story of God’s saving plan.” Fr. Schmitz and Ascension partnered with Cavins to create “The Bible in a Year” podcast. Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, it remains the most successful religious podcast in the world, marking a historic first for a Catholic program.
Jerusalem Post
US condemns Hamas terrorists intimidating & extorting Gazans
By Leo Feierberg Better, February 24, 2026
The US State Department condemned Hamas for destroying the tents of Gazans who refused to pay taxes in a Sunday post on X/Twitter in response to an undated video circulating online appearing to show Hamas’s “Sahm” (Arrow) Unit terrorizing and extorting civilians. The video, posted on Palestinian anti-Hamas activist Hamza al-Masri’s Telegram channel, appears to show masked men belonging to Hamas tearing down a tent in Khan Younis while bystanders loudly protest the action. According to Palestinian American activist Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, the clip shows Hamas operatives shutting down small vendors who refused to pay taxes and threatening violence, disappearance, and torture, including “metal rods in legs and knees,” against those who disobey. Throughout 2025, Hamas faced internal opposition from Gazans who rejected the group’s rule and its refusal to end the war. After a severe crackdown that included beatings, killings, and executions, the group appeared to reassert control.
The Pillar
Vatican watchers scratch their heads over diocesan appointment
By The Pillar, February 23, 2026
Pope Leo named Bishop Gaspard Béby Gnéba as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Abidjan, after Gnéba had led another diocese for almost 20 years. That’s unusual — diocesan bishops don’t often become auxiliaries; it usually goes the other way around. This is a strange situation — Gnéba issued a letter in 2024 urging lay Catholics to denounce priestly misconduct, and urging priests with secret families to come forward. The letter did not win him any friends. In fact, his clergy reacted so strongly that an apostolic visitation took place, and Gnéba went on something of a sabbatical, having apparently lost the ability to govern his presbyterate. This appointment would seem to resolve the strange situation — but it would also leave open many interesting questions about the diocese Gnéba left behind.
Aleteia
Mexico’s recent, long-hidden war for religious freedom
By Matthew Green, February 25, 2026
Many people are familiar with the Cristero War for religious freedom in Mexico (1926-1929) only indirectly, through its martyrs. Blessed Father Miguel Agustín Pro and St. José Sánchez del Río are the most famous, although dozens have been canonized or beatified. St. Toribio Romo González is celebrated on Feb. 25. Many Mexicans aren’t familiar with this violent chapter in their nation’s history, as for a long time it was omitted from public education. The Cristero War didn’t come out of nowhere. After “The Reform” (1854-76) and the Mexican Revolution (1910-1917), laws were enacted not only to separate Church and state but also to restrict Catholics’ ability to practice and transmit their faith in public life. President Plutarco Elías Calles came to power in 1924. He immediately began to strictly enforce the anticlerical provisions of the 1917 Constitution. Pope Pius XI, in the encyclical Iniquis afflictisque (November 18, 1926), denounced the “sad and unjust conditions under which the Catholic religion” was suffering in Mexico.
Rasmussen Reports
Immigration shakes up political parties in Britain, Europe & US
By Michael Barone, February 17, 2026
Immigration is the problem that, more than anything else, is threatening the hold of longstandinBy Michael Baroneg political parties. Old parties' leaders in Britain and Europe, nervous that below-replacement birth rates would halt economic growth and endanger their welfare states, encouraged massive immigration of Muslims from North Africa, the Middle East, and Pakistan. Prime example: former German Chancellor Angela Merkel's unilateral decision, without consultation internally or with European Union partners, in 2015 to admit 1 million mostly male Muslims to Germany. The situation in America, and concerning its parties, is less drastic. The nation has a much stronger tradition of assimilation of immigrants, although many American liberals regard that as something like persecution. The Christian and European cultures of Latins, and the test-driven literacy and numeracy of Asians, have made them more assimilable than the Muslims thronging Britain and Europe.
Related: Polls show public disproval of Trump’s immigration policy, OSV News, by Kate Scanlon, February 24, 2026
Crux
US immigration law ‘not rooted in hate or xenophobia’
By Elise Ann Allen, February 25, 2026
In a wide-ranging sit-down interview, new United States Ambassador to the Holy See Brian Burch addressed several hot-button foreign policy issues, including the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as the thorny issue of immigration. Burch, a Catholic and former president of the Catholic Vote advocacy organization, also spoke about the Middle East, the recent U.S. actions in Venezuela and its engagement with Cuba, as well as his own transition from activist to diplomat, serving as the U.S. envoy to history’s first-ever pope from the United States. Speaking to Crux Now from his office at the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in an hour-long conversation, Burch addressed one of the most sensitive issues between the Catholic Church and the U.S. government: immigration and resistance among some Americans to comments Pope Leo XIV has made on the issue.
From Loop & EWTN to Pillar Post for 2/25/26
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‘Work of the Holy Spirit’: 282 preparing to enter Catholic Church in Ohio diocese this Easter - By Mary Rose - A total of 282 people across six counties in northeast Ohio are preparing to enter the Catholic Church at Easter, marking an increase of more than 90 individuals compared with last year, according to the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio.
TRUMP DECLARES ‘TURNAROUND FOR THE AGES’ IN LONGEST STATE OF THE UNION - President Donald Trump declared that the United States has achieved “a turnaround for the ages,” making a case during the longest State of the Union address in history that his return to office has reversed economic decline, border chaos, and global instability.
VERMONT RESTORES FOSTER LICENSES TO CHRISTIANS - Vermont officials have adopted a revised foster-care policy clarifying that prospective foster parents are not required to “endorse or affirm” LGBTQ “gender identities” or use “preferred pronouns” as a condition of licensure. The move prompted attorneys for two Christian families to dismiss their appeal in a federal lawsuit.
EWTN News
EWTN’s top headlines — February 25, 2026
EWTN News provides reliable, free, up-to-the-minute news affecting the Universal Church, emphasizing the words of the Holy Father and the activities of the Holy See, and is available to anyone with internet access.
Amid oil shortages, storms, and political tensions, the Church unites Cuba and South Florida - By Emily Chaffins - Caritas Cuba and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) have been key players in dispersing U.S. government aid throughout Cuba, which may be a testament to the Church’s international reputation for trustworthiness but also highlights the strong ties between South Florida and Cuba.
Pope Leo says nationalism tramples the weakest - By Victoria Cardiel - Calling peace “one of the great issues of our time,” the pontiff describes it as having a “dual dimension,” both vertical and horizontal: “a gift from God built by men and women throughout the ages” and also “a commitment and responsibility for each one of us.”
Irish pub singer brings popular Mass hymns to Gen Z - By Patrick J. Passmore - Paul Luby, 27, who hails from County Offaly in Ireland and now lives in Australia, told EWTN News that the Irish twentysomethings he plays to in bars in Sydney and Perth connect instantly with the songs, singing along and demonstrating that their Catholic upbringing is still present.
The Pillar
Pillar Stories for Tuesday, 2/25/26
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:
Anglican Canon Robin Ward — a well-known Oxford chaplain and Anglican seminary formator — announced this month that he has been received into the Catholic Church. The prominent British churchman sat down with The Pillar this week to talk about his decision to become a Catholic:
The Dorothea Project — a group of women working to promote education on the Church’s social teachings, and prayer-based action based on those teachings. The women say their aim is to present the whole of Catholic doctrine: “That’s something we say at the start of all of our meetings and in our community. We say, ‘We’re here not because we’re conservative or liberal, not because we’re Republican or Democrat, we’re here because we’re Catholic and we want to be Catholic out loud’.”
Bishop Erik Varden — you know him from The Pillar — is this week giving a kind of Lenten retreat for Pope Leo, dicastery heads, and cardinals living in Rome. As believers, we may at some level regard our religion as an insurance policy. I was struck by this: Certain of subsisting within God’s help, we may think we are out of harm’s way. God can enable a new world to emerge after he has pulled down walls we thought were the world, walls within which we actually suffocated.
Nutshell reflections for 2/25/26:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - February 25, 2026
Tuesday of the First Week of Lent
CBCPNEWS
‘Moral fatigue’ threatens the Philippines
By CBCP News, February 19, 2026
Nearly four decades after the EDSA People Power Revolution, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines warned Thursday that Filipinos face a new threat he called ‘moral fatigue.’ He explained moral fatigue arises when freedom is remembered only as a memory, faith becomes devotion without courage, and peace is sought without justice. “When freedom is treated merely as a memory and not a duty, the spirit of EDSA slowly dies,” Garcera said, recalling the lessons of 1986. Reflecting on the February uprising, when millions of Filipinos gathered at EDSA to protest the dictatorship, he stressed that the movement was sustained not only by collective action but by prayer, with rosaries in hand and hymns in the air. “Freedom has a cost. Peace has a price. Faith demands responsibility,” he said. Garcera also called on the Church to remain a prophetic voice — “not comfortable, not silent, but faithful” — and warned that staying silent in the face of injustice is complicity, not holiness.
Aleteia
Why do priests wear violet vestments during Lent?
By Philip Kosloski, February 24, 2026
During the penitential season of Lent, it has become customary for priests of the Roman Rite to wear vestments of violet. This tradition was gradually adopted, as initially, priests wore only white. In the ancient world, the color violet (often called "purple" in English) was associated with royalty. As History.com explains, to make the color purple, "dye-makers had to crack open the snail’s shell, extract a purple-producing mucus, and expose it to sunlight for a precise amount of time. It took as many as 250,000 mollusks to yield just one ounce of usable dye." When the Roman soldiers mocked Jesus before his crucifixion, they "clothed him in a purple cloak, and plaiting a crown of thorns they put it on him" (Mark 15:17). From this horrific scene, purple became associated with Jesus' Passion and death. Christians then saw purple as a reminder of Jesus' Passion, with the color itself a call to repentance for sin.
Catholic Exchange
Becoming like God: Our world’s anti-Gospel vs. Bible truth
By Fr. Kevin Drew, February 25, 2026
Scripture states that a day is like a thousand years to God. And for the Hebrews who wrote the Scriptures, a thousand years meant “a very long time” (Ps. 90:4). Chesterton wrote that for a man who does not believe in miracles, a slow miracle is just as unbelievable as a swift one. In the modern world’s faithless treatment of history, he wrote, there is this curious and confused idea that difficulty is avoided, or even mystery eliminated, by dwelling on the mere delay of things. Genesis states that the Lord blew the breath of life into man’s nostrils. That is true, is it not? An unthinkable power created in man a respiratory system that enables him to breathe. Once that system shuts down, the breath of life departs, and man returns to the clay of the ground. That’s just the way it is. We need to stop dwelling on mere delays. The new Adam came and conquered hell and death. And the same new Adam will return to judge the living and the dead. Any delay in this process does not eliminate the mystery.
Crisis Magazine
The end of Hollywood is an opportunity for Catholics
By Mike Parrott, February 23, 2026
For more than 100 years, filmmaking has been bound by the physical world: the limits of camera lenses, lighting effects, sound waves, set construction, even human endurance. And hovering over every project, the greatest enemy of most producers, writers, and directors – budgets. Now, AI has liberated filmmaking from physics and financiers alike. Once upon a time (3 months ago), motion picture production demanded massive capital investment (sets, crews, equipment), to say nothing of control over distribution channels. Innovation will merely be recombination. Instead of new myths, we will see the perpetual rearrangement of old ones. A civilization built upon recorded truth may soon find itself adrift in a sea of convincing falsehoods. Yet within disruption lies opportunity. The historical irony is that Catholics once exerted moral influence over Hollywood through institutions like the Legion of Decency. Though that era has long passed, AI may restore storytelling power to creators animated by a vision of the good, the true, and the beautiful.
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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