Syrian Churches restrict Easter celebrations after sectarian violence

A dispute between locals in a Christian-majority town escalated into violence, with shops, cars and private property attacked, while gunfire also directed at a shrine of the Virgin Mary.

Easter celebrations in Syria should be limited to prayers held exclusively inside churches, Church leaders said.

A joint statement from the country’s Christian patriarchs warned of challenges to Muslim-Christian coexistence, emphasising the need for tighter control over weapons proliferation that threaten Syria’s peace and stability.

The appeal from the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, the Syriac Orthodox Patriarch and the Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch followed sectarian violence over the weekend in Al-Suqaylabiyah, a predominantly Greek Orthodox town in western Syria’s Hama province.

A dispute between locals escalated into violence on 28 March, with shops, cars and private property attacked, while gunfire also directed at the town’s Shrine of the Virgin Mary. The Associated Press reported that a large group of men from the neighbouring, predominantly Sunni, town of Qalaat al-Madiq targeted Al-Suqaylabiyah.

The situation prompted a reaction from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch John X, who denounced the attacks

He said they had “triggered repercussions and waves of public anger that extended as far as Damascus” and called for an official investigation and for authorities to “deal firmly with anyone who undermines civil peace”.

“These incidents are often justified by being labelled as ‘individual acts’, though this is not necessarily the case,” the patriarch said in a statement.

Several arrests have been made, but the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that locals remained concerned about inadequate protection for minorities and the need to strengthen civilian protection mechanisms.

Last year, a terrorist attack by members of the Islamic State on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus killed 25 people, leaving 63 injured.  

The latest violence erupted as Syria’s interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa embarked on a European tour aimed at repairing diplomatic ties with key Western nations amid the Middle East’s wider conflicts.

The 43-year-old Syrian leader, who ousted Bashar al-Assad in 2024, held talks on Monday with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, focusing on migration and the return of Syrians who fled the civil war.

In the UK, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer welcomed al-Sharaa to Downing Street, where he acknowledged the Syrian government’s efforts to combat the threat posed by Islamic State.

Syrian Christians face anxious Holy Week

Postcard from Damascus

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: