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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 534

Syrian Christians

Syrian Christians gather for Sunday Mass at the Church of Saint George in the town of Maaloula, Syria, January 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
February 28, 2025, 2:17 pm
Christian town in Syria keeps Aramaic alive, amid fears for future under new regime
Residents of Maaloula, one of the few places where the ancient language is still spoken, worry they’ll be blamed for ousted leadership’s abuses, targeted in ‘revenge’ attacks
By Kareem Chehayeb
Ishaq Nissan, a Syriac Orthodox Christian, rings the church bell in the northeastern Syrian village of Tel Tal, currently controlled by the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, January 27, 2025. (AP/Bernat Armangue)
February 21, 2025, 8:30 am
Syria’s Christians mark 10 years since deadly ISIS attack amid worry for their future
More than 200 Christians were taken hostage during Feb. 2015 assault, leading to mass exodus; those who stayed behind now watch warily as former Islamist rebel leader takes charge
By BASSEM MROUE
Children on the top of an ousted Syrian government forces tank that was left on a street in an Alawite neighborhood, in Homs, Syria, December 26, 2024. (AP Photo/ Leo Correa)
December 27, 2024, 1:44 pm
Syria’s Homs settles into uneasy calm after brief eruption of sectarian violence
Security forces flood major mixed city, patrolling and checking IDs, days after gunfire at protest by members of Alawite minority; Christians say new regime protecting churches
By ABBY SEWELL
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa leads Christmas morning service at the Christmas morning Mass at the Catholic Church of Saint Catherine, in the Nativity Church Complex, in Bethlehem in the West Bank on December 25, 2024. (HAZEM BADER / AFP)
December 25, 2024, 5:50 pm
Bethlehem marks second subdued Christmas, amid pall of ongoing war
Latin patriarch, after visiting Catholics in Gaza, urges faithful in West Bank city to ‘not give up,’ as pope in Vatican laments ‘bombs on schools and hospitals’
By AFP and ToI Staff
A Christian cross that was apparently damaged by IDF troops on Syria’s Mount Hermon and then returned to its original position on December 24, 2024. (Israel Defense Forces)
December 25, 2024, 1:21 pm
IDF says cross on Syrian Mount Hermon fixed, after troops damaged it on purpose
Military spokesperson says alleged acts don’t ‘reflect the values of the IDF,’ whose troops ‘represent all different faiths’; soldiers apparently rotated the cross to become an X
By ToI Staff
Screen capture from video of a Christmas tree that was set alight in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama, Syria, December 24, 2024. (X. Used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law)
December 25, 2024, 8:23 am
Hundreds protest for Christians’ rights in Syrian capital after Christmas tree burned
Hooded fighters seen in video setting fire to installation in Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama; interim government representative condemns action; tree repaired
By Agencies and ToI Staff
Archbishop Butros Meriati leads the Christmas morning mass at the Armenian Catholic Church in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, on December 25, 2023. (Photo by AFP)
December 14, 2024, 7:58 am
Can Syria’s dwindling Christian community survive under jihadi rebel rule?
Once loyal to the regime, Syrian Christians have ostensibly joined the national celebration after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. But can they trust the new Islamist rulers’ pledges?
By Gianluca Pacchiani
Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni looks at the crowd of center-right supporters at a rally in central Rome, Thursday, September 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
September 27, 2022, 2:21 pm
Italy far-right leader once hailed Iran, Hezbollah as defenders of Syrian Christians
2018 video shows Giorgia Meloni, who has now vowed to support Israel, offering praise of Syria’s Assad and his backers
By ToI Staff
A national flag and portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are pictured in the village of Maalula, north of the Syrian capital Damascus, on June 29, 2021. (LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
July 11, 2021, 4:47 pm
Aramaic-speaking Syrian town prepares for return of pilgrims after years of war
Thousands used to visit Maalula churches and monasteries before the 2011 civil war; volunteers begin to clear rubble ahead of August 15 Assumption
By AFP
Pierbattista Pizzaballa (r) during the ceremony honoring his entry as Apostolic Administrator at the Latin Patriarchate Church in Jerusalem's Old City, on September 21, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
December 19, 2016, 6:14 pm
Middle Eastern Christians facing ‘tragedy’: church
Archbishop Pizzaballa claims two-thirds of Christians have fled Iraq and Syria, accuses world of failing to act
By AFP
A picture taken on March 31, 2016 shows Kaits Jabakhchuryan, who came from Aleppo in 2012, baking lahmajoon -- a thin, crusty bread topped with ground meat -- at his restaurant in Yerevan. (AFP PHOTO / KAREN MINASYAN)
June 23, 2016, 8:55 am
Syrian Armenians find refuge in ancestral homeland
Fleeing violence and war, many from Aleppo’s Armenian Christian community start over in the impoverished ex-Soviet republic
By Mariam HARUTYUNYAN
Syrians walk in a dusty street following air strikes by suspected Russian planes on the central rebel-held town of Douma, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus, on November 7, 2015. (AFP/ABD DOUMANY)
November 8, 2015, 5:04 am
Islamic State releases 37 Christians in Syria
More captives from group of 200 Assyrians abducted in February expected to be freed Monday; death toll from airstrike rises to 71
By AP
In this photo provided Friday, Aug. 7, 2015, by the Rased News Network, a Facebook page affiliated with Islamic State militants, Muslim worshipers attend Friday prayers in a mosque in the central Syrian town of Qaryatain. (Rased News Network, a Facebook page affiliated with Islamic State militants via AP)
August 9, 2015, 1:53 am
Activists: Hundreds of Syrian Christians flee Islamic State
Hundreds also said to have been taken hostage by jihadists after advances near strategic town of Qaryatain
By Bassam Mroue
Displaced Iraqis carry their belongings on July 22, 2015 at a gathering point in the northern city of Kirkuk. (AFP / MARWAN IBRAHIM)
From the WebJuly 23, 2015, 8:20 pm
The end of Christianity in the Middle East?
With the onset of Islamic extremism, the future for Christians and other minorities in the region grows ever bleaker, the New York Times reports
Members of the Syrian National Defense Forces (NDF) stand behind a statue of Virgin Mary perched on the cliffs overlooking the ancient Christian town of Maalula, 56 kilometers northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus, on June 13, 2015 after the statue was restored to its original place. (AFP PHOTO / LOUAI BESHARA)
July 11, 2015, 3:29 am
150 Syrian Christian refugees arrive in Poland
Flight from Beirut with some 50 families lands in Warsaw while government weighs absorbing 2,000 refugees from Africa, Middle East
By AP
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