Catholic Nutshell News: Wednesday 9/24/25
Topics include: ‘Please don’t jump,’ says UK Lord; California Bishop cancels Latin Mass; Christians in Bangladesh fear Islamic groups; & Missouri ‘Baby Box’ saves another life
“Here was an almond tree in bloom before me”
Today's sources are the CRUX, Catholic Culture, National Catholic Register, CatholicVote, 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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The Tablet
‘Please don’t jump,’ Lord tells UK peers in assisted suicide debate
By Ruth Gledhill, September 23, 2025
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell warned that legalising assisted suicide in England and Wales would unleash a “fundamental” change in society, with vulnerable people put at risk of feeling they have a duty to die. Lord Moore of Etchingham said, “Near my home in Sussex stands the beautiful cliff of Beachy Head. Unfortunately, it is also the number one suicide spot in the world.” Every day, the Beachy Head Chaplaincy Team works to persuade those who have come to die to live. “They are astonishingly successful,” said Lord Moore. “So far this year, they have engaged with 271 people who have come to kill themselves. Of those, only four have jumped.” Opponents of assisted suicide legislation hailed it as a “significant win” when the House of Lords approved the establishment of a select committee to scrutinize further the proposals in the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill at its second reading.
Catholic News Agency
California Bishop cancels Latin Mass to bring about ‘unity’
By Amira Abuzeid, September 23, 2025
Four days before his installation as the new bishop of Austin, Texas., Bishop Daniel Garcia of Monterey, California, issued a letter terminating the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) in the diocese “in order to strengthen our unity with the universal Church” and “to support [Pope Francis’] goal of moving toward greater unity in the postconciliar Roman rite.” Garcia expressed his concern that the pastor at Sacred Heart, Father Stephen Akers, be “able to give his full attention to the entire parish rather than taking his limited time spent with a small group of individuals who are not worshipping according to ordinary (and one) rite of the Latin Church,” as the number of those who attend the “preconciliar” Mass is “very small.” He admonished the Latin Mass community to “join in unity with the parish … as they gather around the table of the Lord celebrating the rich Eucharistic sacrifice, each Sunday.”
Catholic Culture
Vatican laments violence against women, infanticide, & abortion
By Holy See Mission, September 23, 2025
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, spoke at a UN meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the Beijing conference on women. Archbishop Gallagher lamented “a higher extreme poverty rate for women, obstacles to accessing or even exclusion of women from quality education, and their lower wages in the workforce ... Furthermore, the continued prevalence of violence against women and girls is deeply alarming.” He said “Violence is not limited to sexual exploitation and trafficking but includes also the practices of prenatal sex selection and female infanticide,” which “continue to result in the deaths of millions of ‘missing girls’ each year,” he said, rejecting “false solutions such as abortion. Indeed, protecting the right to life is essential, as it underpins all other fundamental rights.”
CRUX
Christians in Bangladesh fear rise of Islamist groups
By Stephen Uttom Rozario, September 24, 2025
With the elections looming in Bangladesh and the rise of Islami fundamentalism, the Catholic community in the Muslim-majority Central Asian nation is living in fearing persecution. Before and after previous elections, religious minorities have been subjected to persecution. In Bangladesh, the ruling Awami League fell in a student-led uprising on August 5, 2024, and the autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country. Since then, the country has seen the rise of Islamic fundamentalists. In 2001, a bomb attack took place during Sunday Mass at Most Holy Redeemer Church in the southern district of Gopalganj, killing 10 and injuring over 50 Catholics. Premananda Haldar’s younger brother, Suman Haldar, was killed. “It has been 25 years since the bomb attack; a new church building has been built in place of the old church. We are also practicing our religion, but the loud sound of that bomb constantly rings in our ears.”
The Pillar
Umbers returns to ministry, abuse claim ‘not sustained’
By The Pillar, September 23, 2025
Bishop Richard Umbers, an Australian auxiliary bishop of the Sydney archdiocese returned to public ministry Wednesday, after an investigation concluded that an abuse allegation against him was “not sustained.” “The report from the independent investigator highlighted information given by the complainant that was inconsistent with other evidence obtained and therefore, the investigator could not be satisfied that the alleged conduct occurred,” explained the email, sent by archdiocesan vicar general Fr. Samuel Lynch. Following his episcopal ordination in 2016, he represented Australia and New Zealand’s bishops at the International Eucharistic Congresses in Budapest in 2021 and Quito in 2024. He was granted Australian citizenship in April 2024. An abuse crisis has overshadowed the Catholic Church in Australia for decades, gaining public visibility in the 1990s.
Vatican News
‘Work with Us’: Website access to apply for a job at the Vatican
By Vatican News, October 24, 2023
The Vatican Secretariat for the Economy launched a new webpage in 2023 to accept job applications for laypeople who wish to apply for vacant positions at the Holy See. Lay staff were previously hired at various levels of the Holy See based on available CVs (curriculum vitae). It is now possible to directly apply for vacant or soon-to-be vacant positions. Luis Herrera, the Director of Human Resources of the Holy See, said “it will now be possible to [apply] publicly through the ‘Work with Us’ section of the website dedicated to this purpose. All information about vacant positions and the required candidate qualifications will be published here. Anyone interested will be able to submit their application through the website.” Often, said Herrera, “Dicasteries and offices request staff with particular specializations, such as linguistic or technical skills, which are not easy to find. Thanks to the new website, communication between supply and demand will be facilitated.”
UCA News
‘Oh, Singapore, thou shalt not kill’
By Joseph Masilamany, September 24, 2025
Singapore projects itself as one of Asia’s most advanced, efficient, and modern financial hubs — admired by the West for its governance, innovation, and prosperity. Beneath this gleaming image, the republic clings to one of the oldest and harshest punishments known to mankind: death by hanging. The paradox is jarring. A country that hosts global tech firms, sets standards in urban planning, and lectures the world on forward-thinking policies still adheres to an archaic and barbaric practice that more and more nations have abandoned, including Malaysia. The latest case is of Malaysian K. Datchinamurthy, who is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 25 for smuggling 44.96g of diamorphine into the city-state. Singapore remains an outlier in capital punishment. One of the most controversial cases was Nguyen Tuong Van, a 25-year-old Australian executed in 2005 for smuggling heroin. The case left a permanent scar on Singapore’s relations with Australia and confirmed mercy has no place in its justice system.
National Catholic Register
Missouri ‘Baby Box’ saves a life just 2 months after installation
By Jonah McKeown, September 23, 2025
When a brand-new “baby box” was installed this summer at a fire station in O’Fallon, Missouri, supporters knew it could someday save a life. Fewer than 60 days after the box was blessed and inaugurated at O’Fallon Fire Protection District Station 3, first responders safely recovered a healthy newborn child, placed there by the mother, on the morning of Sept. 13. “It gave me chills,” Zangriles told the Register. Funded by Knights of Columbus Council 2269, Grand Knight Tom Zangriles said, “No one was expecting it to be that quick. For it to be that soon really caught us all off guard — in a good way.” The O’Fallon installation is one of more than 300 baby boxes nationwide operated by Safe Haven Baby Boxes, an Indiana-based nonprofit founded by Monica Kelsey. An estimated three to four babies are illegally abandoned each day. This week, in Austin, Texas, a newborn was found alive abandoned in a dumpster.
From Loop & Agency to Pillar Post for 9/24/25
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.”
TRUMP: UKRAINE CAN WIN WAR - After a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday, Trump said Ukraine “is in a position to fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form” from Russia. “Putin and Russia are in BIG Economic trouble, and this is the time for Ukraine to act,” he said.
NYC CATHEDRAL ARTWORK HONORS OUR LADY OF KNOCK - Cardinal Timothy Dolan unveiled a 25-foot-tall mural at New York City’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral last week. The mural is the largest permanent artwork in the church’s 146-year history and honors Our Lady of Knock, Catholic saints, the city’s law enforcement, and immigrants.
CATHOLIC EDUCATION THRIVES IN TENNESSEE - After 30 years serving Catholic schools primarily in central Tennessee through tuition assistance, recent legal changes at the state level now allow the Advancement of Catholic Education Endowment Fund to help schools build and beautify campuses.
Catholic News Agency
CNA’s top headlines — September 24, 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.
Catholic artist’s Chinese-inspired Christian art on display near the Vatican - Sep 23, 2025 - By Courtney Mares - Among the works on display in a new art exhibition by Catholic artist Hsieh Sheng-Min near the Vatican.
Catholic priest killed in ‘senseless act of violence’ in Nigeria - Sep 23, 2025 - By Jude Atemanke - Father Matthew Eya was shot on Sept. 19 while returning to his parish after a pastoral assignment,
U.S. bishops join advocates in backing Supreme Court bid to protect women’s sports - Sep 23, 2025 - By Tessa Gervasini - The U.S. bishops submitted an amicus brief on Sept. 18 urging the Supreme Court to uphold state bans on biological men participating in women’s sports.
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:
Here’s what we know about the pontiff’s plans - the pontiff is hard at work preparing the teaching documents that could come to define his papacy — an encyclical is expected next year, and an apostolic exhortation is widely reported to be released in early October.
Germany’s March for Life was attended by thousands of Catholics on Saturday - Among them was Bishop Georg Bätzing, chairman of the German bishops’ conference. Bätzing said that the country’s pro-life movement should not be co-opted by “political, demographic, nationalistic, or even ethnic interests.”
The principality of Andorraisa, considering an abortion ban, is tiny nation on the border between Spain and France - A bill, expected to pass in November, would amend the country’s criminal penalties for women who undergo abortions, and remove professional sanctions for doctors who perform them, but would not formally permit abortions to take place.
Nutshell reflections for 9/24/25:
USCCB Daily Reflection Audio - September 24, 2025
Wednesday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
Aleteia
Barcelona celebrates Our Lady of Mercy
By Daniel Esparza, September 24, 2024
Each September, Barcelona turns its streets into a living tapestry of music, human towers, parades, and sparks that skate across the night. This is La Mercè — Our Lady of Mercy — the city’s great feast on September 24. The celebration is exuberant, yes, but its heartbeat is older and quieter: a local story of mercy that Barcelona never forgot. The devotion begins with a crisis. In 1687, a swarm of locusts ravaged Catalonia. Barcelonans entrusted the city to Mary under the title Our Lady of Mercy (in Catalan, Mare de Déu de la Mercè). When the danger passed, the city council named her patroness. Rome later confirmed that patronage in the 19th century, and by 1871 La Mercè was an official civic holiday. The gratitude of those decisions still animates the streets today.
National Catholic Register
An adult voice that marries conviction to compassion
By George Weigel, September 24, 2025
Few topics generate more passion than gender ideology and the associated practice of gender “transition.” Several Catholic leaders have tried to address the ideology and the practice calmly, informed by science, philosophy, theology, and pastoral experience. The most recent is Bishop Daniel E. Thomas of “Toledo in America,” as the Vatican’s Annuario Pontificio designates the Ohio diocese centered on the Glass City. In The Body Reveals the Person: A Catholic Response to the Challenges of Gender Ideology, which Bishop Thomas released in August, this thoughtful, beautifully illustrated, and thoroughly documented text should be read in full — easily in a half-hour or 45 minutes. In doing so, parents, ministers of the Gospel, doctors, mental health professionals, teachers, academic administrators, and public officials will meet that precious rarity in American life today: an adult voice that marries conviction to compassion in response to suffering and distress.
Catholic Gentlemen
God does not want men to be merely nice
By Thomas Connelly, September 18, 2025
Why is it almost an insult to call a man a “nice guy”? There is nothing inherently wrong with the term but it has an unspoken meaning. “He’s a nice guy, (but he is also a wuss).” A similar sentiment is conveyed occasionally when guys describe women. “She has a nice personality, (but is not beautiful/attractive).” So, why do nice guys finish last? They probably aren’t doing anything wrong, that is actually part of the problem – they aren’t doing anything. Men are called to be strong, courageous, and prepared to defend. There is a softening in our culture today that seeks to prevent men, and boys on their way to becoming men, from encountering danger and learning how to use their power, strength and bad-assery. It seems women, despite the PC ideals we hear about, want to hear that virility too. It is something not only desirable but essential. God does not want men to be merely nice. He wants us to be the strong powerful instruments of his will in the world.
Missio Dei
Apart from God we can do nothing
By Andrew McGovern, September 24, 2025
When the Lord gives us a mission, He is calling us to radical reliance on Him. The mission He gives us is not something that is to be done of our own accord, relying on our own strength, to further our prideful view of ourselves. No. The mission that we are given is for the salvation of souls. Salvation of souls is not something that we bring about through our own power but, instead, through correspondence with God’s grace. When He gives us our mission, we are to abandon everything to Him so that we realize that it is not us doing the work, but Him in us. This makes room for us to not retain any glory for ourselves and instead, give all glory back to God, apart from Whom we can do nothing!
Image of Almonds by Monfocus from Pixabay
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