Syrian Christians attended regular Sunday services for the first time since the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime a week ago. This was reported by Reuters, according to UNN.
Details
It is noted that the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which came to power, promised that the rights of religious communities would be protected.
According to the newspaper, before Assad's fall, historical religious minority groups, including Christians, freely practiced their religion. However, after he fled the country and the opposition came to power, Christians remain worried about the prospect of an Islamist government, and some admit they are afraid to take to the streets.
However, representatives of the rebels assured the priests that the Christians were not in danger,
Before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Christians made up about 10% of the country's population, or approximately 1.8-2 million of the 22 million inhabitants. However, due to war, persecution, and emigration, the number of Christians has declined significantly.
As of 2024, according to various estimates, there are approximately 500-700 thousand Christians left in Syria. They belong to different denominations and theological and liturgical traditions. The largest group is the Orthodox from the Antiochian Orthodox Church.
Recall
Former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad secretly fled to Moscow after the rebels overthrew the regime: he took about $135 billion, but left a collection of luxury cars in Damascus.