Before the civil war in Syria began in 2011, there were about 2.5 million Christians in Syria, including around a million Greek Orthodox believers. Today, estimates of the Christian population range from 500,000 to a million, with slightly less than half being Greek Orthodox Christians.

The Christians who remain in Syria are still imperiled in their ancient homeland. The Antiochian Patriarchate noted in September 2025 that “for days now in Syria there has been a systematic & unprecedented massacre of Christians, the killing of monks, the burning of monasteries, the looting and burning of entire Orthodox villages, while the authorities in Syria are doing nothing to prevent it.” The Iraqi Christian Foundation reported in March 2025 that “Syrian Christians and Alawites are being slaughtered in Syria by soldiers of the ISIS/AlQaeda terrorist government. The death toll is 1800 in just the last few days, with many victims still missing. Entire villages are being slaughtered.”

Amid this ongoing persecution, Christians in Syria have remained courageous. In June 2025, they took to the streets, chanting: “Christ is risen! Indeed, He is risen! Raise your crosses. We do not fear your death threats!”

As the crisis has continued, on March 8, 2026, His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has once again contacted His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East in order to express his prayerful support and solidarity.

His All-Holiness contacted Patriarch John by telephone and told him of his concern regarding recent developments in the region. He conveyed his concern for the well-being of Patriarch John and for the Christian faithful in Syria and its environs.

His All-Holiness also conveyed to Patriarch John his warm wishes and heartfelt concern, and invoked upon him and his holy flock the unfailing protection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Most Holy Theotokos.

The concern of His All-Holiness was well-founded. In fact, the conversation came just as His Beatitude Patriarch John contacted Metropolitan Elias of Tyre and Sidon to convey the support of the Church of Antioch for the suffering people in southern Lebanon. “We stand by you and by our people in South Lebanon,” Patriarch John told Metropolitan Elias, “and we pray for peace and for the end of the war.”

As tensions have continued to rise in Syria, on New Year’s Day 2026, Patriarch John emphasized that Christians were not seeking protection, but rather a partnership with all the people of Syria. He prayed for peace in the region, as well as for Metropolitan Yohanna Ibrahim and Metropolitan Paul Yazigi, who were kidnapped in 2013, and for the martyrs of Mar Elias Church, which ISIS terrorists targeted on June 22, 2025, killing at least thirty people and injuring 54 others. Despite these incidents and others like them, His Beatitude said: “We will not abandon or surrender, even if some are tempted to emigrate.”

In March 2025, Patriarch John, along with Mor Ignatius Aphrem II, Syriac Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church, and Youssef Absi, Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, issued a statement noting that “in recent days, #Syria has witnessed a dangerous escalation of violence, brutality, and killings, resulting in attacks on innocent civilians, including women and children. Homes have been violated, their sanctity disregarded, and properties looted—scenes that starkly reflect the immense suffering endured by the Syrian people.”

The Patriarchs added that “the Churches also call for the swift creation of conditions conducive to achieving national reconciliation among the Syrian people. They urge efforts to establish an environment that facilitates the transition to a state that respects all its citizens and lays the foundation for a society based on equal citizenship and genuine partnership, free from the logic of vengeance and exclusion.”

In January 2025, His Beatitude Patriarch John X expressed hope and continued to call for peace, emphasizing that “we are not guests in this land, and we are not children of today or yesterday. We come from Antioch of the Apostles, from this land that has marked the universe with the name of Jesus Christ.”

May our loving God grant all of His Beatitude’s prayers for peace and security for the Christians of Syria and the surrounding areas.

Source: Orthodox Observer