Welcome to Wisdom Wednesday. The botched execution in Tennessee has stirred up legislators and activists regarding the death penalty. The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty while one political candidate in Tennessee wants to go back to the electric chair. Before these stories, we have that sticky question from Pope Francis, about the Eucharist for divorced and remarried Catholics.
Status update
Vatican officials on Friday stressed that Francis’ 2016 text “The Joy of Love” isn’t up for rewriting, amending or scrapping. Religion News Service reports Pope Leo seeks a “status update” of Francis’ divisive opening to divorced and remarried Catholics.
The Death Penalty
Tennessee’s execution protocol is medically unethical and should be revamped before further executions occur, nearly 40 health care professionals said in a letter to Gov. Bill Lee. From Baptist News Global.
“[T]he death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” – Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2267. Provided by the USCCB.
‘Bring back the electric chair,’ Tennessee GOP candidate urges after botched execution. From Baptist News Global.
‘Violence begets more violence:’ US Catholics seek abolition of death penalty. As the United States saw a sharp rise in executions of people on death row in 2025, the Executive Director of Catholic Mobilizing Network calls for US Catholics to uphold the Church’s teaching on human dignity, from conception to natural death. From The Herald Malaysia Online.
Life and Death
The University of Notre Dame’s ethics center gives its 2027 pro-life award to Dominican sisters who serve the poor and dying. From EWTN. The religious sisters “serve as a countercultural sign and help to build an authentic civilization of truth and love,” the ethics center said.
An aborted baby from New Mexico has won a wrongful death lawsuit against an abortionist. The estate of a child killed in utero during the third trimester collected $200,000 under New Mexico’s wrongful death law.
St. Francis teaches us about death, 800 years after his own. From National Catholic Reporter.
Office of Religious Affairs
Here’s what to know about Pete Hegseth’s new Office of Religious Affairs, from Religion News Service. A memo announcing the establishment of the Office of Religious Affairs said it would ‘oversee research, technology, and analytical tools to support and assess spiritual fitness, spiritual readiness, and spiritual resilience’ of soldiers.
Un-Baptism?
EU bishops warn about risks of deleting names from baptismal records. EWTN News reports the case involves a Belgian citizen who has left the Church and has requested his name be deleted from the baptismal records and whether the Church under EU law has the right to decline to do so.
‘Civilize it’
We are in need of healing in our families, communities, and country, says Barbara Molinari Quinby in this week’s Justice Bulletin Board. “Civilize It” is a call for Catholics to honor the human dignity of each person they encounter, whether it is online, at the dinner table, or in the pews next to them.”
Encounters in Faith and History
Photographs and archival accounts trace newly beatified Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s longstanding connection with the Knights of Peter Claver. From Black Catholic Messenger.
What you didn’t know about the Little Rock Nine
From Baptist News Global.
Preference for Whites
The Trump administration has raised the nation’s annual refugee admissions cap from 7,500 to 17,500 for the coming year but again dictated that the vast majority must be white South Africans. From Baptist News Global.
Points to ponder
The inclusivity trap: A commitment to inclusion can help majority White congregations feel virtuous—while avoiding costly action. Opinion published by the Christian Century.
Vatican Observatory scholar says Earth may be rarer than once believed. From EWTN. “The universe is certainly not full of worlds like Earth,” said Christopher Graney, a scholar at the Vatican Observatory.
‘Upside-down medicine:’ Jim O’Connell’s practice is built not on profit but on giving his patients—the unhoused of Boston—whatever time they need. Feature from the Christian Century.
Noah McKay was always “at least slightly” more confident than not that God existed. The philosophy doctoral student at Princeton University recently announced his conversion to Catholicism, but he told EWTN News that he struggled for years with what he saw as uncertainties related to faith, including the problem of evil and the “problem of divine hiddenness.”
Ecological conversion: At the heart of the care for creation. From UCA News. We are called to look at creation with awe, wonder, and respect, and to celebrate it as God’s gift.
Gen Z campus revival
Stanford students turn to Catholicism in big numbers, from the New York Post. (Not customarily cited as a source.) This post includes advertising and distractions from the main story.
Brazil
“How Our Lady took center stage in heated Brazilian election,” from the Pillar.
Supreme Court back in session
A new Supreme Court term begins with cases on climate change, immigration and gun rights. From National Catholic Reporter.
Supreme Court to hear dispute over church’s plan to build Marian shrine on residential land. From National Catholic Reporter.
Red Mass marks opening of Supreme Court term in Washington
Washington Cardinal Robert McElroy was the principal celebrant of the Mass, and Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, offered the homily. From EWTN News.
Limits on sacraments bring ICE lawsuit
The St. Louis Archdiocese is suing over limits on sacraments for ICE detainees. EWTN News reports the Archdiocese of St. Louis says it has been discriminated against in its efforts to minister to Catholic ICE detainees.
Books and movies
Vatican to publish Pope Francis’ personal diary. EWTN News reports a collection of Pope Francis’ private writings will be available on Nov. 24.
Free book reflects on Pope Francis’ teachings on religious life.
The book compiles essays by 21 authors on the pastoral, political, spiritual, and ecological imprint that Pope Francis left on the Church and on society. From EWTN News.
A new documentary highlights experiences of Black LGBTQ+ Christians. From Religion News Service. ‘The Gospel According To…’ features Black queer Christians talking about their faith, homophobia and being closeted in the Black Church.
Papal conference on the family
Pope Leo XIV met USCCB leadership and other prominent American bishops. EWTN reports the pontiff met with several American bishops from Oct. 1–5, and three U.S. cardinals are set to be in Rome for a major fall conference on the family.
Unrest in Northern Ireland
Church leaders plead for dialogue amid renewed unrest in Northern Ireland. From National Catholic Reporter.
Episcopal bishop to resign
The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, who shot to fame after urging President Donald Trump to have mercy on immigrants and others, announced on Thursday (Oct 1) that she plans to resign as head of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Budde will remain the Episcopal bishop of Washington until June 2028, when her replacement will be consecrated. From Religion New Service.
Pets blessed for St. Francis feast
From UCA News.
Giggle for God
America’s witty church signs aim to inspire, attract drivers and passersby. From Crux.
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