Crossroads Podcast: Will It Be Safe This Christmas For Syria’s Christians?

(ANALYSIS) Anyone who is interested in the roots of Christian history is familiar with the following, drawn from the 11th chapter of Acts:

So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians.

Where is Antioch today? That biblical city now known as Antakya, located on the Orontes River about 12 miles from the Syrian border. The history of the church in Antioch was at the heart of the news in this week’s “Crossroads” podcast.

In the 13th century, during one of many violent upheaval in that region, the headquarters of the ancient Antiochian Orthodox Church moved to Damascus — where it remains to this day, located on the “Street called Straight.” And if that reference sounds familiar, then refer back to this passage in Acts, chapter nine.

Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Anani′as. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Anani′as.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for a man of Tarsus named Saul. …

At the moment, Syria is back in the news because of the overthrow of the violent, autocratic regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The nation is now controlled by a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a coalition of Islamist rebels led by Al-Jolani, who was part of the terrorist groups al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Journalists are asking valid political questions about how the fall of Assad will affect Iran, Lebanon, Russia, Israel and other powers in this always fragile part of the world. It is also important to ask how the rise of a truly Islamic state — a caliphate — will affect the population of Syria, especially the land’s many smaller religious groups, including various kinds of Christians and members of Muslim sects opposed by doctrinaire Islamists.

An Associated Press report about the crisis noted:

Many Syrian Christians, who made up 10% of the population before Syria’s civil war, either fled the country or supported Assad out of fear of Islamist insurgents. Last Sunday’s church services were canceled.

“We were scared of the events taking place,” said Ibrahim Shahin, a Catholic church supervisor.

But this Sunday, doors reopened and bells rang out.

“Now we see that for the minorities, on the contrary, they are showing us more respect, and they are taking care of us,” said Agop Bardakijian, a Christian resident of Aleppo at a bustling cafe. Children posed for photos in front of Christmas trees.

That’s one point of view. The question is whether the leaders of endangered religious minorities will risk speaking with candor, while waiting to see if the actions of their new Islamist rulers will match the “moderate” tone of their early pronouncements.

Meanwhile, journalists may also want to ask questions about this statement (link to X here) from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham:

What is “Jizya”? It is part of the sharia system that helps draw legal lines between citizens and non-Muslims with “dhimmi” status.

Jizya is a tax historically levied on non-Muslims in Islamic states, particularly during the caliphates and empires from 1200 to 1450. It was imposed as a form of financial obligation in exchange for protection and the right to practice one's own religion within an Islamic state. This tax reflected the broader policies of tolerance towards religious minorities while establishing a distinction between Muslim citizens and non-Muslims.

Yes, that is a form of “tolerance,” but one with a long and complex history. The reality “on the ground” tends to vary.

The question is where the Islamist government ends and the powers of extremists begin.

That question — as demonstrated for generations in Egypt — can be stated like this: What is the meaning of “religious freedom” if state officials, as in police and armed forces, will not stop a mob? What is the status of a church that has already been trashed and burned? What are the rights of a murdered Christian who is accused, by a mob, of insulting Islam?

Read the following carefully — material drawn from the 2023 U.S. State Department report on religious freedom in Syria. I have added some bold text. Remember that this describes Syria under the Assad regime.

The constitution declares the state shall respect all religions and shall ensure the freedom to perform religious rituals as long as these “do not disturb the public order.” There is no official state religion, although the constitution states, “Islam is the religion of the President of the republic.” The constitution states Islamic jurisprudence shall be a major source of legislation, and the law prohibits conversion from Islam. …

How complex is the faith landscape in Syria? The report noted:

Most Christians belong to autonomous Orthodox churches, such as the Syriac Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic churches such as the Maronite Church, or the Assyrian Church of the East and other Nestorian churches. Most Christians continue to live in and around Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Latakia, or in Hasakah Governorate in the northeast of the country. … Many Druze live in the Jabal al-Arab (Jabal al-Druze) region in the southern Suwayda Governorate, where they constitute a majority of the local population.

The report noted that, under Assad: “Membership in the Muslim Brotherhood or ‘Salafist’ organizations remains illegal and punishable with imprisonment or death.”

Rebels linked to “Salafism” now run the country.

This brings me back to the ancient Orthodox Church of Antioch. Readers should know that I am a convert to Eastern Orthodoxy (see “What do the converts want?”). To be specific, my family joined the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.

Patriarch John X, who resides on the Street called Straight in Damascus, is the current leader of the ancient church of Antioch. The first bishop of Antioch was St. Peter, before he moved to Rome.

Last Sunday, the patriarch preached a very important sermon during the Divine Liturgy at the Church of the Holy Cross. It contained what Orthodox leaders called his “vision for Syria.” It opens with a clear view of the church’s role in the history of Syria:

"Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love" (1 Cor. 16:13-14). With these words, I begin, and with these words, I address our dear children in this cherished homeland. I extend my hand to yours during these delicate times, so that together, we may place our hope in the Almighty Creator, the Father of Lights and God of all consolation, to wipe away every disturbance from our hearts, crown them with His holy hope, and strengthen us to seek a better tomorrow.

We stand on the threshold of a new phase, perceiving the dawn of a homeland we all love and cherish. We are on the brink of renewal, which we desire to be radiant with hope and crowned with light. Here in Damascus, from the Straight Street, from Al-Mariamiyya, the neighbor of the Umayyad Mosque, we declare to the world: as Christians, we are from the soil of Syria and from the Cedars of Lebanon, from the majesty of Qasioun Mountain, the expansiveness of Homs, the legacy of Aleppo, the waterwheels of Hama, and the gushing springs of Idlib, from the sea of Lattakia and the Euphrates of Deir ez-Zor. We are not guests in this land, nor did we come to this land today or yesterday. We are from the ancient roots of Syria and as old as the jasmine of Damascus. We are from Apostolic Antioch, from this land that has adorned the world with the name of Jesus Christ.

This is a hopeful statement from the leader of a church that has, for centuries, endured waves of brutal persecution.

Will this happen again? Will Syria’s new leaders reduce members of ancient Christian churches to “dhimmi” status, or worse? Will government leaders stop radical mobs from taking matters into their own hands?

Here is another, I would argue related, question: Do Western journalists even know that Patriarch John X exists? Do editors in major newsrooms have any grasp of the complexity of the religious landscape in Syria?

The answer appears to be “No,” based on this simple Google News search for relevant terms. As you would expect, Religion Unplugged editor Clemente Lisi did this report: “Patriarch John X Says Christians ‘Not Just Guests’ In Post-Assad Syria.”

What will happen to religious minority groups in Syria? I believe that this depends, in large part, on the actions of major players in the United States, the European Union, Russia and the Vatican.

In a short Substack commentary — “Merry Christmas, Syrian Christians” — Rod “Living in Wonder” Dreher, another Orthodox convert — asked yet another series of relevant questions as Christmas approaches in Syria:

Where … are the churches of the West? Why their silence? Are they afraid of being seen as anti-Muslim? Or do they simply not care? There are plenty of progressive churches that agonize over the possibility that some tranny, somewhere, might be misgendered, but who don’t give a flying fig about Syrian Christians under the caliphate. That’s progressives for you. But what about us conservative Christians?

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