Catholic cathedral in Syria that survived missile attacks reopens (CNA) A Catholic cathedral that was repeatedly struck by missiles amid the Syrian civil war was due to reopen Monday following its restoration. The Maronite Cathedral of St. Elijah in Aleppo was bombarded with missiles on at least three occasions between 2012 and 2016, and suffered extensive damage when jihadists entered the Christian quarter of Al-Jdayde in 2013. The restoration was financed largely by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)…

At least 9 Catholic bishops have died from COVID-19 (CNA) At least nine Catholic bishops have died from the coronavirus worldwide as the pandemic continues to spread across the Americas. Bishop Henrique Soares da Costa of Palmares, Brazil, became the latest bishop to die of COVID-19 on July 18. He died at the age of 57 after being hospitalized for more than two weeks of treatment in the intensive care unit of the St. Joseph Memorial Hospital in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco…

Pew poll: 61% say God plays an important role in their lives (Pew Research Center) Across the 34 countries, which span six continents, a median of 45% say it is necessary to believe in God to be moral and have good values. But there are large regional variations in answers to this question…

Jesus statue vandalized in Calgary (Catholic Register) The Calgary Police Service has launched an investigation into the vandalizing of a bronze Jesus statue by the front doors of a city parish…

Report: China orders Christians to remove images of Jesus from homes (Christian Post) Amid the coronavirus outbreak, poor Christian villagers in China have been ordered to renounce their faith and replace displays of Jesus with portraits of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping or risk losing their welfare benefits…

Philippines bishops dare Duterte: ‘Sue us’ (UCANews) Manila apostolic administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo has defended a recent pastoral letter issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines [CBCP] criticizing the Philippines’ newly passed anti-terrorism law. He also said that if the Duterte government believed the pastoral letter violated the constitution’s article on the separation of church and state, Panelo should press charges against the bishops.“If it really is violative, they should file a case against us. We are challenging them if our letter really violates that,” Bishop Pabillo added…