IMAGE: CNS/L’Osservatore Romano By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The military mantra of “suck it up” and an intense love for the Catholic faith drove Cheryl Tobin to reach new heights — the cupola of St. Peter’s Basilica and a personal blessing from Pope Francis. Despite having stage 4 …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Alex Hofford, EPA By Simone Orendain MANILA, Philippines (CNS) — President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s win in May 9 national elections was “a strong reminder that people want change,” said Father Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, the country’s largest Catholic radio network. Father Pascual told Catholic News Service May …

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Salvation has nothing to do with the tidy business of bartering — earning God’s love in return for good behavior, Pope Francis said. “If you do well you get a reward; if you do poorly you get punished. This is …

ROME — The leaders of the world’s communities of Catholic women religious were warned against accepting an “entitlement creep” that numbs them from confronting poverty and environmental destruction. At the opening session of a triennial assembly of the International Union of Superiors General in Rome, U.S. Sister Carol Zinn, a a member …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Sean Gallagher, The Criterion By Sean Gallagher GREENFIELD, Ind. (CNS) — As Easter season ends, one reminder of it that will remain in churches throughout the rest of the liturgical year is the Easter candle, also known as the paschal candle. Throughout the liturgical year, Easter candles are …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Jamal Nasrallah, EPA By Cindy Wooden VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Vatican is funding a job-creation program for Iraqi refugees in Jordan, a country that is hosting close to 1.5 million refugees, but is struggling to provide work for them. With $150,000 donated to the Vatican by visitors …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Lorraine Turchansky, Archdiocese of Edmonton By Glen Argan and Lasha Morningstar EDMONTON, Alberta (CNS) — While video and photos of the raging inferno that destroyed much of Fort McMurray were being flashed around the world, Jason and Katharine Campbell and their two sons were expressing gratitude for all …

IMAGE: CNS photo/EPA By Carol Glatz VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Young women and men who are tired of today’s self-centered, materialistic society should consider becoming missionaries — the heroes of evangelization, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass. “Life is worth living” to the full, “but in order to live …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Greg Shemitz By Beth Griffin NEW YORK (CNS) — On a drizzly gray morning in early May, the bright kitchen at Visitation Mission on Manhattan’s East Side was filled with the sound of laughter and the inviting aromas of fresh-cut vegetables and baking cookies as postulants and novices …

IMAGE: CNS photo/Khalil Al Anei, EPA By Dale Gavlak HARISSA, Lebanon (CNS) — Despite predictions that Christianity could be wiped out of his war-torn homeland within five years, an Iraqi Catholic cleric said he believes in God’s ultimate preservation. “This prognosis may be of thinkers or politicians, but not of …