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At least one person was killed and several were injured Sunday in an attack on the inauguration of a Greek Orthodox church in Syria’s Hama Governorate. There are reports of one or two deaths from the attack, and as many as 12 wounded. The July 24 attack targeted Hagia Sophia Church in Al-Suqaylabiyah, about 30 miles northwest of Hama. The church was being built as a replica of Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia by the governments of Bashar al-Assad and Vladimir Putin in response to the Turkish government’s converting that building to a mosque. The Syrian Arab News Agency, the country’s state media, attributed the attack to “terrorist organizations.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251867/attack-on-syrian-church-inauguration-kills-at-least-one
Pope Francis arrived in Edmonton, Alberta, Sunday to begin his six-day visit to Canada. During his cross-country journey, the 85-year-old pope is expected to meet with and apologize to indigenous Canadians for abuses committed at Church-run residential schools. The pope’s itinerary includes stops in Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. He returns to Rome on Saturday, July 30. Following a flight from Rome that lasted more than 10 hours, the pope was greeted at Edmonton International Airport by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other dignitaries. Pope Francis greeted representatives of Canada's indigenous peoples inside an airport hangar.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251868/photos-pope-francis-arrives-in-canada
Aboard his flight to Canada on Sunday, Pope Francis made a point to reflect on the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. Sunday marked the Catholic Church's second annual observance of this special day, held on the fourth Sunday in July to roughly coincide with the June 26 feast day of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the grandparents of Jesus. He urged young people to stay in contact with their grandparents, comparing this practice to a “tree that takes strength from the roots and carries it forward in flowers and fruits.” In a tweet earlier in the day, Pope Francis called on grandparents and the elderly “to be artisans of the revolution of tenderness.”
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251865/heres-what-pope-francis-said-on-the-world-day-for-grandparents-and-the-elderly
Today, the Church celebrates Saint James, the brother of John the Evangelist, the first Apostle to be martyred. He was beheaded by order of Herod of Agrippa. The Gospels tell us that the two brothers left their father, Zebedee, and followed Jesus as soon as He called out to them. James was one of the three Apostles who were particularly close to the Lord. He was there with the Lord and his brother, John, and Peter at the Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethsemane. He is known as James "the Greater" to distinguish him from the other Apostle by the same name. He is the patron saint of Spain and of pilgrims. In northwestern Spain, he is venerated at Santiago de Compostela, a medieval pilgrimage site that is still very popular today.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-james-547