IMAGE: CNS photo/Simone Orendain By CEBU, Philippines (CNS) — Maria Georgia “Maggie” Cogtas of Cebu told of a childhood without playing, only tough work as a garbage picker at dumpsites, construction sites and on the streets. Cogtas, 21, also told more than 12,000 people at the 51st International Eucharistic Congress …

By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More than 1,000 “missionaries of mercy” from all over the world will receive a special mandate from Pope Francis to preach and teach about God’s mercy, said Archbishop Rino Fisichella. About 700 of the missionaries who were chosen by Pope Francis will be in Rome …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth DRIGGS, Idaho (CNS) — Father Adrian Vazquez bolted out of his rectory in St. Anthony on a cold November morning, brushed a thin layer of snow off of his Subaru Outback, started the engine and raced down the road to make the 50-mile …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters By Cindy Wooden ROME (CNS) — Thousands of people waited hours outside a Rome church to glimpse the mortal remains of St. Padre Pio and St. Leopold Mandic, two Capuchins popular as miracle workers and known particularly for the long hours they would spend hearing …

IMAGE: CNS/Katarzyna Artymiak By CEBU, Philippines (CNS) — The Eucharist is supposed to create a new culture, one that is welcoming and only sees the flaws and failures of others as a reminder of one’s own need for God’s mercy, said Philippine Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. The Eucharist is the …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Junno Arocho Esteves By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Tomorrow’s priests and bishops must be good pastors and not just good scholars, said the secretary of seminaries at the Congregation for Clergy. “The vocation is meant to be lived, not to be argued about, hypothesized over …

By VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A jubilee year that does not open people’s wallets to share what they have with others is not a true jubilee, Pope Francis said. “This pope isn’t inventing that,” he insisted. “It’s in the Bible.” At his weekly general audience Feb. 10 in St. Peter’s …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth By Chaz Muth BOISE, Idaho (CNS) — In the 1980s, a wave of migrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries began to settle in Idaho. The agricultural industry made the state a prime location for these immigrants, who could work on the farms and ranches, …

IMAGE: Catholic News Service By David Agren CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (CNS) — When Father Alberto Melendez began ministering at the prison in this once-violent border city nine years ago, rival gangs ran criminal operations from behind bars. Riots broke out regularly; a 2009 tragedy claimed 20 lives. “There was no …

IMAGE: CNS photo/David Maung By Junno Arocho Esteves VATICAN CITY (CNS) — In a video message one week before his apostolic visit, Pope Francis asked the people of Mexico for some time alone during his visit to pray before the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe. “I would like to …