Christianity in Syria

In the late Ottoman rule, a large percentage of Syrian Christians emigrated from Syria, especially after the bloody chain of events that targeted Christians in particular in 1840, the 1860 massacre, and the Assyrian genocide. According to historian Philip Hitti, approximately 90,000 Syrians arrived in the United States between 1899 and 1919 (more than 90% of them Christians).{{cite book |last=Hitti |first=Philip |title=The Syrians in America|year=2005|orig-year=1924|publisher=Gorgias Press|isbn=1-59333-176-2}} The Syrians referred include historical Syria or the Levant encompassing Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine. Syrian Christians tend to be relatively wealthy and highly educated.{{Cite web |title=Why Do So Few Christian Syrian Refugees Register With The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees? : Rozenberg Quarterly |url=https://rozenbergquarterly.com/why-do-so-few-christian-syrian-refugees-register-with-the-united-nations-high-commissioner-for-refugees/ |access-date=26 November 2024}}

According to the Catholic charity group Aid to the Church (ACN), number of Christians residing in Syria is estimated to have reduced from 2.1 million (10% of population) in 2011 to around 300,000 (less than 2%) in 2022. The decrease is due to large-scale emigration of Christians to Europe triggered by deteriorating living conditions caused by the civil war.{{Cite news |last=al-Salem |first=Majd |date=22 June 2023 |title=Emigration empties Qamishli of its Christian people |work=Enab Baladi |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2023/06/emigration-empties-qamishli-of-its-christian-people/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715182008/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2023/06/emigration-empties-qamishli-of-its-christian-people/ |archive-date=15 July 2023}} US State Department estimates that Syrian Christians comprise 2.5-3% of the total population inside Syria, as of 2022.{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Syria |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/#:~:text=Section%20III.-,Status%20of%20Societal%20Respect%20for%20Religious%20Freedom,hands%20of%20violent%20extremist%20groups. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110615/https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/ |archive-date=3 June 2023 |website=U.S Department of State |quote=}}

File:Monastery St Takla.JPG in Maaloula, Rif Dimashq]]

The Christian population of Syria comprised 10% of the Syrian population before 2011.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |title=CIA World Factbook, People and Society: Syria |access-date=24 January 2021 |archive-date=3 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203054123/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |url-status=live }} Estimates of the number of Christians in Syria in 2022 range from less than 2% to around 2.5% of the total Syrian population.{{Cite web |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/ |title=US State Dept 2022 report |access-date=15 July 2023 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110615/https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last=al-Salem |first=Majd |date=22 June 2023 |title=Emigration empties Qamishli of its Christian people |url=https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2023/06/emigration-empties-qamishli-of-its-christian-people/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715182008/https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2023/06/emigration-empties-qamishli-of-its-christian-people/ |archive-date=15 July 2023 |work=Enab Baladi}}

Most Syrians are members of either the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (700,000), or the Syriac Orthodox Church. The vast majority of Catholics belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Other Eastern Catholic churches include the Maronite Church, Syriac Catholic Church, Armenian Catholic Church, Chaldean Catholic Church; there is also a small number of Latin Church Catholics. The rest belong to the Eastern communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days of Christianity when all Christians were part of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The main Eastern groups are:

• the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches;
• the Eastern Catholic Churches, which are in communion with Rome;
• and the independent Assyrian Church of the East (i.e., the "Nestorian" Church). Followers of the Assyrian Church of the East are almost all Sureth speaking ethnic Assyrians whose origins lie in Mesopotamia, as are some Oriental Orthodox and Catholic Christians.

Even though each group forms a separate community, Christians nevertheless cooperate increasingly. Roman Rite, Western Latin Church Catholicism and Protestantism were introduced by missionaries but only a small number of Syrians are members of Western rites.

The schisms that brought about the many sects resulted from political and doctrinal disagreements. The doctrine most commonly at issue was the nature of Christ. In 431, the Nestorians were separated from the main body of the Church because of their belief in the dual character of Christ, i.e., that he had two distinct but inseparable "qnoma" (ܩܢܘܡܐ, close in meaning to, but not exactly the same as, hypostasis), the human Jesus and the divine Logos. Therefore, according to Nestorian belief, Mary was not the mother of God but only of the man Jesus. The Council of Chalcedon, representing the mainstream of Christianity, in 451 confirmed the dual nature of Christ in one person; Mary was therefore the mother of a single person, mystically and simultaneously both human and divine. The Miaphysites taught that the Logos took on an instance of humanity as His own in one nature. They were the precursors of the present-day Syrian and Armenian Orthodox churches.

By the thirteenth century, breaks had developed between Eastern or Greek Christianity and Western or Latin Christianity. In the following centuries, however, especially during the Crusades, some of the Eastern churches professed the authority of the pope in Rome and entered into or re-affirmed communion with the Catholic Church. Today called the Eastern Catholic churches, they retain a distinctive language, canon law and liturgy.

File:Damascus Greek Orthodox Patriarchate 1573.jpg]]

File:Hama-RomanOrthodoxChurch.jpg]]

{{main|Eastern Orthodoxy in Syria}}

The largest Christian denomination in Syria is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (officially named the Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East), also known as the Melkite church after the 5th and 6th century Christian schisms, in which its clergy remained loyal to the Eastern Roman Emperor ("melek") of Constantinople.

Adherents of that denomination generally call themselves "Rūm" which means "Eastern Romans" or "Asian Greeks" in Arabic. In that particular context, the term "Rūm" is used in preference to "Yūnāniyyūn" which means "European Greeks" or Ionians in Classical Arabic. The appellation "Greek" refers to the Koine Greek liturgy used in their traditional prayers and priestly rites.

Members of the community sometimes also call themselves "Melkites", which literally means "supporters of the emperor" in Semitic languages – a reference to their past allegiance to Roman and Byzantine imperial rule. But, in the modern era, this designation tends to be more commonly used by followers of the local Melkite Catholic Church.

Syrians from the Greek Orthodox Community are also present in the Hatay Province of Southern Turkey (bordering Northern Syria), and have been well represented within the Syrian diasporas of Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, the United States, Canada and Australia.

Traditional Christianity in Syria is also represented by Oriental Orthodox communities, that primarily belong to the ancient Syriac Orthodox Church, and also to the Armenian Apostolic Church.

{{main|Syriac Orthodox Church}}

The Syriac Orthodox Church is the largest Oriental Orthodox Christian group in Syria. The Syriac Orthodox or Jacobite Church, whose liturgy is in Syriac, was severed from the favored church of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Orthodoxy), over the Chalcedonian controversy.

File:Armenian Genocide Memorial in Der Zor, Syria.jpg in Deir ez-Zor]]

{{main|Armenians in Syria}}

The Armenian Apostolic Church is the second largest Oriental Orthodox Christian group in Syria. It uses an Armenian liturgy and its doctrine is Miaphysite (not monophysite, which is a mistaken term used or was used by the Chalcedonian Catholics and Chalcedonian Orthodox).

File:Lattakia, Latin Church.jpg in Latakia]]

File:Church of Saint Francis of Assisi, Aleppo.jpg in Aleppo]]

File:Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Damascus, Syria.jpg in Damascus]]

File:Saint Elijah Maronite Cathedral, Aleppo (4).jpg in Aleppo]]

{{main|Catholicism in Syria}}

Of the Eastern Catholic Churches the oldest is the Maronite, with ties to Rome dating at least from the twelfth century. Their status before then is unclear, some claiming it originally held to the Monothelite heresy up until 1215, while the Maronite Church claims it has always been in union with Rome. The liturgy is in Aramaic (Syriac).

The Patriarchate of Antioch never recognized the mutual excommunications of Rome and Constantinople of 1054, so it was canonically still in union with both. After a disputed patriarchal election in 1724, it divided into two groups, one in union with Rome and the other with Constantinople. The term "Melkite" is in use mostly in reference to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church. Like its sister-church the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch ('Eastern Orthodox'), the Melkite Catholics both Greek and Arabic in its form of the liturgy. Most of the 375,000 Catholics in Syria belong to the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, the rest are members of the Latin Church, Maronites (52,000), Armenian or Syriac Rites.

Seven popes from Syria ascended the papal throne.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/anewuniversalbi03platgoog|title=A new universal biography, containing interesting accounts|publisher=Printed for Sherwood, Jones, and co.|year=1825|author= John Platts| page=[https://archive.org/details/anewuniversalbi03platgoog/page/n495 479]}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4dCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA14|title= The History of the Popes: From the Foundation of the See of Rome to A.D. 1758; with an Introd. and a Continuation to the Present Time, Volume 2|author= Archibald Bower, Samuel Hanson Cox|year= 1845| page=14}} Many of them lived in Italy. Pope Gregory III,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x05LcArWCWAC&pg=PA483|title= A New Universal Biography: Forming the first volume of series|author= John Platts|year= 1825| page=483}}{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/powerpopesoranh00daungoog|title= The Power of the Popes|publisher=Tims|year=1838|author= Pierre Claude François Daunou| page=[https://archive.org/details/powerpopesoranh00daungoog/page/n366 352]}} was the last pope born outside Europe before Francis (elected in 2013).

In Syria, there is also a minority of Protestants. Protestantism was introduced by European missionaries and a small number of Syrians are members of Protestant denominations. The Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW) as the Protestant Church in Germany Diaspora agency actively supports persecuted Protestant Christians in Syria with aid projects.Lage- und Tätigkeitsbericht des Gustav-Adolf-Werkes für das Jahr 2013/14 Diasporawerk der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (GAW yearly report, in German) A 2015 study estimates some 2,000 Muslim converted to Christianity in Syria, most of them belonging to some form of Protestantism.{{cite journal|last1=Johnstone|first1=Patrick|last2=Miller|first2=Duane|title=Believers in Christ from a Muslim Background: A Global Census|journal=IJRR|date=2015|volume=11|page=14|url=https://www.academia.edu/16338087|access-date=20 November 2015|archive-date=13 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210313222442/https://www.academia.edu/16338087/Believers_in_Christ_from_a_Muslim_Background_A_Global_Census|url-status=live}}

By one estimate made by Elisabe Granli from University of Oslo, around 1,920 Syrian Druze converted to Christianity,{{cite journal | last1 = Granli | first1 = Elisabet | title = Religious conversion in Syria : Alawite and Druze believers | journal = University of Oslo | date = 2011 | url = https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/16181 | access-date = 16 May 2020 | archive-date = 13 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190713212811/https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/16181 | url-status = live }} according to the same study Christian of Druze background (Druze converts to Christianity) still regard themselves as Druze, and they claim that there is no contradiction between being Druze and being Christian.

{{See also|Demographics of Syria}}

The number of Christians in Syria has been disputed for many decades. There has been no official census on religion in Syria since the 1960s.

{{Pie chart

|caption = Christianity in Syria 1956Samir Abdoh, "[https://www.noor-book.com/كتاب-الطوائف-المسيحية-فى-سوريا-pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221130172011/https://www.noor-book.com/%D9%83%D8%AA%D8%A7%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%A6%D9%81-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-pdf |date=2022-11-30 }}", Christian Denominations in Syria, year 2003, p.33

|thumb = right

|label1 = Eastern Orthodoxy (mainly Antiochian Greeks)

|value1 = 35.71

|color1 = Blue

|label2 = Oriental Orthodoxy (mostly Armenians and Syriacs)

|value2 = 33.28

|color2 = Yellow

|label3 = Catholic Church (both Easterns and Latins)

|value3 = 26.24

|color3 = Red

|label4 = Protestantism

|value4 = 2.46

|color4 = Cyan

|label5 = Church of the East

|value5 = 2.31

|color5 = Green

}}

File:Christians In Syria (141836329).jpeg baptism in Syria]]

Damascus was one of the first regions to receive Christianity during the ministry of St Peter. There were more Christians in Damascus than anywhere else. With the military expansion of the Islamic Umayyad empire into Syria and Anatolia, non-Muslims who retained their native faiths were required to pay a tax (jizya) equivalent to the Islamic Zakat, and were permitted to own land; they were, however, not eligible for Islamic social welfare as Muslims were.{{cite book |last= al-Jawziyyah |first= Ibn Qayyim |year=2008 |title= Ahkam Ahl al-Dhimmah |location= Beirut|publisher= Dar Ibn Hazm |volume=1 | page=121 }}

Damascus still contains a sizeable proportion of Christians, with some churches all over the city, but particularly in the district of Bab Touma (The Gate of Thomas in Aramaic and Arabic). Masses are held every Sunday and civil servants are given Sunday mornings off to allow them to attend church, even though Sunday is a working day in Syria. Schools in Christian-dominated districts have Saturday and Sunday as the weekend, while the official Syrian weekend falls on Friday and Saturday.

File:Al-Khandaq Street, Aleppo (03).jpg, Aleppo]]

Christians engage in every aspect of Syrian life and Syrian Christians are relatively wealthy and more highly educated than other Syrian religious groups. Following in the traditions of Paul, who practiced his preaching and ministry in the marketplace, Syrian Christians are participants in the economy, the academic, scientific, engineering, arts, and intellectual life, entertainment, and the Politics of Syria. Many Syrian Christians are public sector and private sector managers and directors, while some are local administrators, members of Parliament, and ministers in the government. A number of Syrian Christians are also officers in the armed forces of Syria. They have preferred to mix in with Muslims rather than form all-Christian units and brigades, and fought alongside their Muslim compatriots against Israeli forces in the various Arab–Israeli conflicts of the 20th century. In addition to their daily work, Syrian Christians also participate in volunteer activities in the less developed areas of Syria. As a result, Syrian Christians are generally viewed by other Syrians as an asset to the larger community.

In September 2017, the deputy Hammouda Sabbagh, a Syriac Orthodox Christian and member of the Ba'ath Party, was elected speaker of parliament with 193 votes out of 252.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2017/09/28/97001-20170928FILWWW00222-un-chretien-elu-a-la-tete-du-parlement-syrien.php|title=Un chrétien élu à la tête du Parlement syrien|date=28 September 2017|access-date=29 September 2017|archive-date=31 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731083902/https://www.lefigaro.fr/flash-actu/2017/09/28/97001-20170928FILWWW00222-un-chretien-elu-a-la-tete-du-parlement-syrien.php|url-status=live}}

Syrian Christians are more urbanized than Muslims; many live either in or around Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, or Latakia. In the 18th century, Christians were relatively wealthier than Muslims in Aleppo.Saint Terzia Church in Aleppo [http://www.terezia.org/section.php?id=2386 Christians in Aleppo (in Arabic)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130134909/http://terezia.org/section.php?id=2386 |date=30 November 2010 }}[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4499668.stm BBC News Guide: Christians in the Middle East] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011141003/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4499668.stm |date=11 October 2011 }}, last update 15 December 2005. Syrian Christians have their own courts that deal with civil cases like marriage, divorce and inheritance based on Bible teachings.

The Constitution of Syria states that the President of Syria has to be a Muslim; this was as a result of popular demand at the time the constitution was written. However, Syria does not profess a state religion.

On 31 January 1973, Hafez al-Assad implemented the new constitution (after reaching power through a military coup in 1970), which led to a national crisis. Unlike previous constitutions, this one did not require that the president of Syria to be of the Islamic faith, leading to fierce demonstrations in Hama, Homs and Aleppo organized by the Muslim Brotherhood and the ulama. They labeled Assad as the "enemy of Allah" and called for a jihad against his rule.{{Cite book|title=Middle Eastern Leaders and Islam: A Precarious Equilibrium|last=Alianak|first=Sonia|publisher=Peter Lang|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8204-6924-9|page=55}} Robert D. Kaplan has compared Assad's coming to power to "a Jew becoming tsar in Russia – an unprecedented development shocking to the Sunni majority population which had monopolized power for so many centuries."{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199302/kaplan|title=Syria: Identity Crisis|last=Kaplan|first=Robert|date=February 1993|work=The Atlantic|access-date=20 December 2017|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224211629/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1993/02/syria-identity-crisis/303860/|url-status=live}}

The government survived a series of armed revolts by Islamists, mainly members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from 1976 until 1982.

In 2023, the country was scored 2 out of 4 for religious freedom,{{Cite web |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/syria/freedom-world/2022 |title=Freedom House website, retrieved 2023-08-08 |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319180223/https://freedomhouse.org/country/syria/freedom-world/2022 |url-status=live }} with the government controlling the appointment of Muslim religious leaders, restricted proselytizing, a ban on conversion of Muslims and active terror threats.

In the same year, the country was ranked as the 12th most difficult place in the world to be a Christian.{{Cite web |url=https://www.opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/syria/ |title=Open Doors website, retrieved 2023-08-08 |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=5 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005001954/https://opendoorsuk.org/persecution/world-watch-list/syria/ |url-status=dead }}

Following the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the Syrian Transitional Government, despite being composed of Islamists, vowed to respect the Christians and other religious denominations in Syria.{{Cite web |url=https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2024/13-december/news/world/christians-in-syria-remain-cautious-after-overthrow-of-assad-regime |title=Christians in Syria remain cautious after overthrow of Assad regime |last=Paveley |first=Rebecca |work=Church Times |date=11 December 2024 |access-date=15 December 2024}}{{cite news |last1=El Chamaa |first1=Mohamad |last2=Georges |first2=Salwan |title=For Syria’s Christians, Christmas is a time to grapple with hope and fear |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/25/syria-christmas-christians-hts/ |access-date=25 December 2024 |work=Washington Post}} However, in the weeks following HTS taking power, numerous reports emerged of Christians, among other minorities, being persecuted in Syria. {{Cite web |last=Shepardson |first=David |date=28 December 2024 |title=HTS Orders its Militants to Stop Posting Videos of Crimes Against Christians and Alawites |url=https://londoninsider.co.uk/hts-orders-its-militants-to-stop-posting-videos-of-crimes-against-christians-and-alawites/ |access-date=28 December 2024 |website=London Insider |language=en-US}} An unknown number of non-Alawite religious minorities, including Christians, were also targeted and killed in massacres of Syrian Alawites during clashes in western Syria in March 2025,{{Cite news |last=Taheri |first=Mandy |date=8 March 2025 |title=Hundreds of minorities, including Christians, killed in Syria—Reports |url=https://www.newsweek.com/hundreds-minorities-including-christians-killed-syria-reports-2041764 |access-date=8 March 2025 |work=Newsweek |language=en}} with many fleeing their villages to the mountains.{{cite news |title=More than 1,000 killed in Syrian crackdown on Alawite region, war monitor says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/hundreds-killed-syrian-crackdown-alawite-region-war-monitor-says-2025-03-08/ |work=Reuters |date=8 March 2025}}

Christians spread throughout Syria and have sizable populations in some cities/areas; important cities/areas are:

• Aleppo – has the largest Christian population of various denominations (mostly ethnic Armenians and Assyrians. Also members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and Melkite Catholic Church)
• Damascus – contains sizable Christian communities of all Christian denominations represented in the country
• Homs – has the second largest Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Wadi al-Nasara or Valley of Christians – has a sizable Christian population in the area (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Safita – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Maaloula – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch and Melkite Catholic Church)
• Saidnaya – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Tartous – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Latakia – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Suwayda – has a sizable Christian population (mostly members of Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch)
• Al-Hasakah – has a large ethnic Assyrian population (mostly members of Syriac Orthodox Church)
• Qamishli – has a large ethnic Assyrian population (mostly members of Syriac Orthodox Church)
• Khabur River – 35 villages has a large ethnic Assyrian population (mostly members of the Assyrian Church of the East)
• Hama Governorate – has a number of Christian towns/cities/villages (Maharda, Al-Suqaylabiyah, Kafr Buhum, Toumin, Ayyo, Al-Biyah, Ain Halaqim, Barshin, Al-Bayda, Hazzour). Christians also live in the city of Hama
• Idlib Governorate – has five Christian villages (Al-Quniyah, Al-Yacoubiyah, Judayda, Hallouz and Al-Ghassaniyah). Christians also live in the cities of Idlib and Jisser al-Shughour.{{cite web | url=https://www.etccmena.com/2010-04-15-15-15-01/ | title=تقرير الطائفة المسيحية في إدلب | date=15 April 2010 | access-date=6 February 2022 | archive-date=6 February 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206214351/https://www.etccmena.com/2010-04-15-15-15-01/ | url-status=live }}
• Daraa Governorate – several Christian towns and villages at the western side of the Lajat: Izra, Khabab, Bassir, Tubna, Al-Masmiyah and Shaqra, in addition to Ghasm and Rakhm in the southeastern part of the Governorate{{cite news |last1=Muhammad |first1=Ihsan |title=قرى مسيحية في درعا تفتقر للجيل الشاب وعائلات تسعى للهجرة |url=https://npasyria.com/99614/ |access-date=6 October 2023 |agency=NPA Syria |date=9 March 2022 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019213456/https://npasyria.com/99614/ |url-status=live }}

{{See also|Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian civil war#Christians|label 1=Christians during the Syrian civil war}}Syrian Christians, in line with their fellow citizens, have been badly affected by the Syrian Civil War. According to Syrian law, all Syrian men of adult age with brothers are eligible for military conscription, including Christians.{{Cite web |url=http://www.syriatoday.ca/law-30-army.htm |title=قانون خدمة العلم رقم 30, Syria Today Toronto Canada |access-date=6 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180608181455/http://www.syriatoday.ca/law-30-army.htm |archive-date=8 June 2018 |url-status=dead }}[https://euaa.europa.eu/country-guidance-syria-2021/221-military-service-overview#:~:text=According%20to%20Article%2046%20of%20the%20Constitution%20of,all%20men%20over%20the%20age%20of%2018%20years%E2%80%99. European Union Agency for Asylum, Syria, Military Service Overview]

Christian population in Syria has significantly diminished due to the departure of many Christians from the country amidst the Syrian civil war.{{Cite web |title=Syria |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116080113/https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/syria/ |archive-date=16 January 2024 |website=CIA World Factbook |quote=the Christian population may be considerably smaller as a result of Christians fleeing the country during the ongoing civil war}} In the first five years after the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, at least half of Syria's Christians had left the country,{{Cite web |url=http://www.aina.org/reports/utrmcfsi.pdf |title=NGO report, Understanding recent movements of Christians from Syria and Iraq to other countries across the Middle East and Europe |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010103419/http://www.aina.org/reports/utrmcfsi.pdf |url-status=live }} but as the situation began to stabilize in 2017 following recent army gains, return of electricity and water to many areas and stability returning to many government controlled regions, some Christians began returning to Syria, most notably in the city of Homs.{{Cite web |url=https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/12/syria-homs-christians-return-rebuild-homes-lives/ |title=Syria: Homs Christians return to rebuild homes and lives - World Watch Monitor |access-date=24 December 2017 |archive-date=28 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180728035710/https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2017/12/syria-homs-christians-return-rebuild-homes-lives/ |url-status=live }}[https://english.enabbaladi.net/archives/2018/09/rural-homs-christians-return-to-their-lands-via-lawsuits/ Enab Baladi website, article dated September 19, 2018]{{Cite web |url=https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/syria-171206/ |title=Open Doors website, article dated December 6, 2017 |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=19 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231019213456/https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/stories/syria-171206/ |url-status=live }} Assyrian Democratic Organization (ADO), an Assyrian opposition group affiliated with the Syrian National Revolutionary Coalition (SNRC), estimated that approximately two-thirds of Syrian Christians had left the country by 2021. The estimate was also verified by other Christian organizations in Syria.{{Cite web |date=9 August 2021 |title=Syria's Christian population reduced by two-thirds since 2011: party |url=https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/090820211 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210809203725/https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/090820211 |archive-date=9 August 2021 |website=rudaw}}

During the Syrian civil war, several attacks by ISIS have targeted Syrian Christians, including the 2015 al-Qamishli bombings and the July 2016 Qamishli bombings. In January 2016, YPG militias conducted a surprise attack on Assyrian checkpoints in Qamishli, in a predominantly Assyrian area, killing one Assyrian and wounding three others.{{Cite web|url=http://www.aina.org/news/20160112034707.htm|title=Kurdish YPG Forces Attack Assyrians in Syria, 1 Assyrian, 3 Kurds Killed|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=19 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160419152622/http://www.aina.org/news/20160112034707.htm|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/syrias-christians-pressured-by-forced-pyd-assimilation/541614|title=Syria's Christians pressured by forced PYD assimilation|access-date=9 October 2018|archive-date=31 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531171913/http://aa.com.tr/en/politics/syrias-christians-pressured-by-forced-pyd-assimilation/541614|url-status=live}}

More than 120 churches and Christian places of worship have been destroyed since the Syrian civil war began in 2011.{{Cite web|url = https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-120-churches-damaged-war-syria-2011-65486863|title = Report: Over 120 Syrian churches damaged by war since 2011|website = ABC News|access-date = 30 January 2022|archive-date = 30 January 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220130014428/https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/report-120-churches-damaged-war-syria-2011-65486863|url-status = live}}

In November 2021, the Armenian Catholic Church of the Martyrs in Raqqa's city center was rebuilt by the aid group called the Free Burma Rangers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.freeburmarangers.org/2021/11/15/destroyed-by-isis-a-church-reborn/|title=Destroyed by ISIS, a Church Reborn | Free Burma Rangers|access-date=30 January 2022|archive-date=30 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130014428/https://www.freeburmarangers.org/2021/11/15/destroyed-by-isis-a-church-reborn/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijd_g-p65Mo|title = Church Dedication|website = YouTube|access-date = 30 January 2022|archive-date = 30 January 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220130014426/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijd_g-p65Mo|url-status = live}}

Following a visit to Syria, to participante in a conference that brought together representatives of the Syrian churches and NGOs working with them in the country, Regina Lynch, project director for Aid to the Church in Need, described the difficult situation the local communities endure, but added that "for many Christians, the war has had a positive effect on the faith, and, in spite of everything, it has been an opportunity for the Church to put its teaching on charity and forgiveness into action".{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=30 March 2022 |title=Syria: "Many Christians are short of hope, but any they do find comes from the Church" |url=https://acninternational.org/interview-to-regina-lynch-after-the-catholic-church-conference-in-damascus/ |access-date=10 November 2022 |website=ACN International |language=en-US |archive-date=10 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110105241/https://acninternational.org/interview-to-regina-lynch-after-the-catholic-church-conference-in-damascus/ |url-status=live }}

File:George Sabra جورج صبرة 1993.jpg, former head of Syrian Interim Government and former President of Istanbul-based Syrian National Council]]

Prominent Christian figures have been involved in revolutionary activities of the Syrian opposition; through peaceful demonstrations as well as armed resistance. After the deadly clampdown launched by Assad regime deteriorated into a civil war, many Christians volunteered in various humanitarian organizations like the Syrian Civil Defence. As of 2019, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, around 61% of churches damaged in the Syrian civil war has been targeted by pro-Ba'athist forces. Also according to the SNHR, out of 124 documented incidents of violence against Christian religious centres between 2011 and 2019; 75 attacks were perpetrated by militant forces loyal to the Assad regime and 33 by various factions of the opposition.{{Cite news |last=Yamin, Moubayed, Barq, Stifo |first=Bahnan, Samira, Mirna, George |date=5 September 2017 |title=Don't be fooled: Assad is no friend of Syria's Christian minorities |work=The Hill |url=https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/religion/332938-dont-be-fooled-assad-is-no-friend-of-syrias-christian-minorities/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180312143416/https://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/religion/332938-dont-be-fooled-assad-is-no-friend-of-syrias-christian-minorities/ |archive-date=12 March 2018}}{{Cite web |date=5 September 2019 |title=The Syrian Regime Bears Primary Responsibility for 61% of the Targeting of Christian Places of Worship in Syria |url=https://snhr.org/blog/2019/09/05/54214/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614123546/https://snhr.org/blog/2019/09/05/54214/ |archive-date=14 June 2022 |website=SNHR}}{{Cite web |date=7 May 2015 |title=Targeting Christian Places of Worship in Syria: 63% have been targeted by government's forces |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/targeting-christian-places-worship-syria-63-have-been-targeted |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724115530/https://reliefweb.int/report/syrian-arab-republic/targeting-christian-places-worship-syria-63-have-been-targeted |archive-date=24 July 2015 |website=reliefweb}}

The US department of state and “various humans rights organizations” have criticized the regime for deliberately launching large-scale attacks on Christian churches and arresting Christian citizens.{{Cite web |date=2023 |title=2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Syria |url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/#:~:text=Section%20III.-,Status%20of%20Societal%20Respect%20for%20Religious%20Freedom,hands%20of%20violent%20extremist%20groups. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603110615/https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/syria/ |archive-date=3 June 2023 |website=U.S Department of State |quote=Reports also stated that the authorities used sectarianism, including the politicization of religion, as a “survival strategy.”.. human rights organizations reported that the regime intentionally destroyed churches and detained at least hundreds of Christian citizens.}} In April 2013, Gregorios Ibrahim, the Archbishop of Syrian Orthodox Church in Aleppo, lamenting the vast exodus of a third of Syria's Christians from Syria, as well as indiscriminate attacks on Syrian cities and civilian areas since the civil war began.{{Cite web |last=Fahmi |first=Dr Georges |title=Most Syrian Christians Aren't Backing Assad (or the Rebels) |url=https://www.chathamhouse.org/2016/12/most-syrian-christians-arent-backing-assad-or-rebels |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320214122/https://www.chathamhouse.org/2016/12/most-syrian-christians-arent-backing-assad-or-rebels |archive-date=20 March 2021 |website=Chatham House}}{{Cite news |date=13 April 2013 |title=لمطران حنا إبراهيم في حلب بسوريا: ثلث المسيحيين هاجروا منذ بدء الانتفاضة |trans-title=Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim in Aleppo, Syria: A third of Christians have emigrated since the start of the uprising |work=BBC News Arabic |url=https://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast/2013/04/130413_syria_interview_bishop_john_ibrahim |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210110172956/https://www.bbc.com/arabic/middleeast/2013/04/130413_syria_interview_bishop_john_ibrahim |archive-date=10 January 2021}} A week after issuing the statement, the Archbishop was abducted and has remained missing ever since; allegedly by Al-Nusra Front before being handed over to ISIS.{{Cite web |date=31 December 2020 |title=Rewards for Justice - Acts of Terror - ISIS Kidnapping Networks |url=https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/isis_kidnapping_networks.html |access-date=9 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201231211359/https://rewardsforjustice.net/english/isis_kidnapping_networks.html |archive-date=31 December 2020 }} Ba'athist regime has also passed a discriminatory military conscription law which enables government authorities to seize properties of Syrians and their families accused of draft evasion. The law disproportionately targets Sunni and Christian families across Syria, who constitute the vast majority of the Syrian refugee population.

According to various reports, the total population of Syrian Christians residing in Syria has been reduced from 1.5 million before 2011 to around 300,000 as of 2022 (less than 2% of population). Rather than the persecution by IS during 2014-17, the decline has been mainly due to large-scale emigration of native Christians due to subsequent deterioration of living conditions in the war-torn country. Many rural and young Christians view emigration to Europe as a way to advance career opportunities in education and employment, in addition to providing better prospects for their families.{{Cite web |date=18 November 2022 |title=Report: Number of Christians in Syria Dropped from 1.5 Million to 300,000 |url=https://syrianobserver.com/news/80226/report-number-of-christians-in-syria-dropped-from-1-5-million-to-300000.html#:~:text=Christians%20in%20Syria%20drop%20from%201.5%20million%20to%20300%2C000&text=According%20to%20the%20report%2C%20the,2%20percent%20of%20the%20population). |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322091641/https://syrianobserver.com/news/80226/report-number-of-christians-in-syria-dropped-from-1-5-million-to-300000.html |archive-date=22 March 2023 |website=Syria Observer}}{{Cite web |date=16 November 2022 |title=News |url=https://www.churchinneed.org/report-shows-global-persecution-of-christians-is-getting-worse/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230715182019/https://www.churchinneed.org/report-shows-global-persecution-of-christians-is-getting-worse/ |archive-date=15 July 2023 |website=ACN United States}}

• George Sabra, member of Syrian opposition
• Philip Stamma, chess player
• Paul Anka, American-Syrian singer
• Fares al-Khoury, Prime Minister of Syria (1944-1945) and (1954-1955)
• Mikhail Ilyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs (1945)
• Mary Ajami, poet and pioneering feminist writer
• Michel Aflaq, philosopher and politician
• Dawoud Rajiha, Minister of Defence (2011-2012)
• Ibrahim Haddad, Minister of Oil and Mineral Reserves (2001-2006)
• Sami al-Jundi, politician
• Mikhail Wehbe, Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations (1996-2003)
• Hammouda Sabbagh, Speaker of the People's Council of Syria since 2017
• Yohanna Ibrahim, Syriac Orthodox Archbishop and kidnapping victim
• Paul (Yazigi) of Aleppo, Greek Orthodox Archbishop and kidnapping victim
• Paul of Aleppo, chronicler
• Maxim Khalil, actor
• Bassem Yakhour, actor
• George Tutunjian, musician
• Lena Chamamyan, singer
• Faia Younan, singer
• Nouri Iskandar, composer

• Arab Christians
• Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem
• Christianity and Islam
• National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon
• Christianity in the Middle East
• Religion in the Middle East
• Genocide of Christians by the Islamic State
• Sectarianism and minorities in the Syrian Civil War
• 1860 civil conflict in Mount Lebanon and Damascus
• Massacre of Aleppo (1850)
• Great Famine of Mount Lebanon (1915-1918)
• Late Ottoman genocides
• Religion in Syria
• Freedom of religion in Syria
• Catholic Church in Syria
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Syria
• List of monasteries in Syria
• List of churches in Aleppo
• St Baradates
• The Ascetical Homilies of Isaac the Syrian

{{Reflist}}

{{Refbegin|2}}

• {{Cite book|last=Dick|first=Iganatios|title=Melkites: Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholics of the Patriarchates of Antioch, Alexandria and Jerusalem|year=2004|location=Roslindale, MA|publisher=Sophia Press|url=https://melkite.org/products-page/events/melkites-greek-orthodox-and-greek-catholics-of-the-patriarchates-of-antioch-alexandria-and-jerusalem|access-date=26 February 2021|archive-date=8 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230608114849/https://melkite.org/products-page/events/melkites-greek-orthodox-and-greek-catholics-of-the-patriarchates-of-antioch-alexandria-and-jerusalem|url-status=dead}}
• {{Cite book|last=Griffith|first=Sidney H.|author-link=Sidney H. Griffith|chapter=Melkites, Jacobites and the Christological Controversies in Arabic in Third/Ninth-Century Syria|title=Syrian Christians under Islam: The First Thousand Years|year=2001|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|pages=9–55|isbn=9004120556|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E51_-Js-bZwC&pg=PA9}}
• {{Cite book|last1=Grillmeier|first1=Aloys|author-link1=Aloys Grillmeier|last2=Hainthaler|first2=Theresia|title=Christ in Christian Tradition: The Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch from 451 to 600|volume=2/3|year=2013|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-921288-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lokeAAAAQBAJ}}
• {{Cite journal|last=Leonhardt|first=Christoph|title=The Greek- and the Syriac-Orthodox Patriarchates of Antioch in the Context of the Syrian Conflict|journal=Chronos: Revue d'Histoire de l'Université de Balamand|year=2018|volume=33|pages=21–54|doi=10.31377/chr.v33i0.92|doi-broken-date=24 December 2024 |s2cid=54732620|url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f41a/089b7937e1344d9389e8a35a607d25fe9357.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190309053005/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f41a/089b7937e1344d9389e8a35a607d25fe9357.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 March 2019}}
• {{Cite book|last=Meyendorff|first=John|author-link=John Meyendorff|year=1989|title=Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450-680 A.D.|location=Crestwood, NY|publisher=St. Vladimir's Seminary Press|isbn=9780881410563|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ|access-date=26 February 2021|archive-date=28 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240928054243/https://books.google.com/books?id=6J_YAAAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}
• {{Cite book|last=Rompay|first=Lucas van|chapter=The East: Syria and Mesopotamia|title=The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Studies|year=2008|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=365–386|isbn=978-0-19-927156-6|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NgPI7Jt1HewC&pg=PA365}}

{{refend}}

• [http://www.eclj.org/pdf/ECLJ_ReportantiChristianpersecution20110120.pdf European Centre for Law and Justice (2011): The Persecution of Oriental Christians, what answer from Europe?]

{{Christianity in Syria}}

{{Asia topic|Christianity in}}

{{Syriac Christianity}}

{{Syria topics}}

{{Demographics of Syria}}

Category:Religion in Syria

Category:Syrian Christians

Category:Middle Eastern Christians