Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday, with a curated collection of columns, reports and opinions. It is our weekly search for wisdom in the overlapping worlds of faith and society. No endorsements or intentional support. All sources acknowledged. We lead off this week with reports of questions about – and the possibility of – women deacons.
Women deacons
From National Catholic Reporter: A future Vatican document will address questions surrounding the possibility of women serving as deacons in the Catholic Church, according to one of several interim reports released Nov. 17 by the Vatican’s synod office.
From Catholic News Service and Our Sunday Visitor: The study groups Pope Francis had established to provide an in-depth reflection on controversial, complex or “emerging” questions raised during the Synod of Bishops on synodality have published interim reports.
From OSV News: Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the synod, said Nov. 17 that the work of some groups — “given the richness and complexity of most of the topics entrusted to them – has required more time than originally anticipated.”
Immigration issues
From Religion News Service: At least seven faith leaders were arrested at Broadview ICE facility protest. “I’ve got bruises all over my body,” the Rev. Michael Woolf, who was thrown to the ground and arrested by police, told RNS.
From Religion News Service: Methodist pastors marched into a courtroom to support a “boring suburban dad” who was indicted for protesting. “If you come for one United Methodist, you have come for all of us,” said a Chicago area UMC pastor.
Trump’s border czar calls U.S. bishops “wrong” on immigration. America Magazine reports the remark by Tom Homan: “I’m a lifelong Catholic, but I’m saying it not only as a border czar, but I’m also saying this as a Catholic, I think they need to spend time fixing the Catholic Church.”
Religion News Service examines the views of the new Catholic migration chair, about supporting immigrants and respecting critics. Victoria, Texas, Bishop Brendan Cahill leads a diocese of about 100,000 Catholics on Texas’ Gulf Coast.
The Black Catholic Messenger says, despite their immigration defense, U.S. Catholic bishops have faltered on clarity at their 2025 fall assembly. Nate Tinner-Williams recaps the fall meeting and the U.S. episcopacy’s troubled sociopolitical moment.
New York state’s bishops call on faithful to stand with immigrants and refugees. The Catholic call to welcome the stranger stems from the Bible, the bishops noted in their statement, which is titled “For You Too Were Once Aliens.” From Our Sunday Visitor.
Violence victims in Nigeria: Christians or Muslims?
President Trump says Christians are being persecuted in Nigeria. The reality is more complicated, according to the Associated Press. Trump has told defense officials to begin preparing for military action in Nigeria, where he says Christianity faces an “existential threat.” Data shows that while Christians are targeted over faith in some attacks, most victims of overall violence are Muslims.
Repression in China
From the Union of Catholic Asian News: China under Xi is becoming ever more repressive. Latest crackdown on Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and his Zion Church ought to be a wake-up call for the global community.
Hindu Nationalists Attack Missionaries in Northern India
Christianity Today reports that one victim described the mob descending on their bus as a rare occurrence in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir.
Personal attacks on Christians in Europe
A new report notes “significant rise” in personal attacks. The story, from OSV News, Our Sunday Visitor.
West Bank Settler Violence
“They have total impunity”: West Bank settler violence surges after the Gaza ceasefire, according to the Guardian. The UN logged 260 attacks in October alone, its highest monthly tally, as settlers attack farmers and burn olive trees.
United Methodists to restructure
From Religion News Service: After years of controversy over LGBTQ+ affirmation and same-sex marriage that split their denomination, United Methodists have ratified a plan to restructure the 57-year-old church to give regions around the world equal standing and greater freedom to tailor church life to local customs and traditions.
Catholics in Detroit to restructure
From Catholic News Agency: The Archdiocese of Detroit has announced a restructuring process that will lead to church closures and parish mergers as a result of declining church attendance, its archbishop said.
Statistics
From Pew Research: 12th grade girls are less likely than boys to say they want to get married someday. Majorities of LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ U.S. adults under 50 say they want to get married someday.
If the U.S. had 100 people, 62 would be Christians, 29 would be religious ‘nones.’ There would be two Jews and one Muslim.
Most college students disagreed with Charlie Kirk. A whopping 94% of American college students had heard of Charlie Kirk before the time of his death, but only 30% of students said they agreed with his views. The report from Baptist News Global.
New York’s mayoral race
Religion News Service looks ‘Inside Zohran Mamdani’s bid to win over religious New Yorkers.’ Over the past year, the candidate has leaned on his Muslim identity to mobilize voters from across traditions, from Friday prayers and Diwali celebrations in Queens, to Baptist church services in Harlem and Sukkot observances in Hasidic Williamsburg.
OPINION Right-wing news outlet Newsmax reported that Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama predicted the New York City will be “completely Muslim in three or four years.” The opinion writer from Baptist News Global says, “I’m sure Tuberville didn’t intend that as good news, but it’s fair to say if his behavior reflects the Christianity in New York City, its conversion to Muslims like Mamdani would be an improvement.”
Lacking basic needs
More than a quarter of the global population still lacks access to seven basic needs identified as fundamental by the late Pope Francis — with close to 60% living in nations with severe restrictions on religious freedom, and more than half of the world’s women living in countries with severe sex-based discrimination, according to a new report from Fordham University. From OSV News.
Jubilee of the Poor
Our Sunday Visitor News provides the text of Pope Leo’s homily at Mass for the Jubilee of the Poor. Here’s a summary of the homily.
National Catholic Youth Conference
The U.S. Bishops discussed young Catholics’ place in the Church ahead of the National Catholic Youth Conference, according to the Catholic News Agency. At the Fall Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, bishops spoke about the young generation as many prepare to attend NCYC. The conference will take place Nov. 20–22 in Indianapolis for prayer, community, evangelization, and service among Catholic teenagers.
A group of teens will speak with the Holy Father during a digital encounter at the upcoming National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) in Indianapolis. Pope Leo XIV will hold a 45-minute digital encounter with young people from across the United States.
Today’s American Catholic: Mysticism
Overshadowed by the plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops this week was a Vatican-hosted event of note: the “Mysticism, Mystical Phenomena, and Holiness” conference organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and held from November 10 to 13.
The impact of 36 bishops
Victor Gaetan is a senior correspondent for the National Catholic Register, focusing on international issues. He writes, “The Daring 1965 Bishops’ Letter That Enraged Communists — and Helped Heal a Wounded Europe.” Gaetan says the letter sought to break cycles of vengeance by embracing the Gospel’s mandate to forgive.
Justice Bulletin Board
Barbara Molinari Quinby writes on the Feast of Christ the King. “The future of humanity does not lie solely in the hands of great leaders, the great powers and the elites,” said Pope Francis. The future “is fundamentally in the hands of people and in their ability to organize. It is in their hands . . . .”
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