By Swann Collins, for Eurasia Business News – December 27, 2025. Article no 1950
Syrian Christians are celebrating Christmas in Damascus and Maaloula in a subdued, anxious atmosphere, marked by grief over recent violence and fear of ongoing insecurity in post‑Assad Syria. Despite these wounds, churches are holding services and communities are gathering to mark the feast, turning the holiday into an expression of resilience and a prayer for peace rather than a purely festive occasion.
Context after Assad’s fall
One year after Bashar al‑Assad’s regime collapsed and islamists took power, Christians in Syria remain deeply affected by years of war, displacement, and attacks on churches and neighborhoods by militia groups. The political transition has not yet brought stable security, so many Christians approach public celebrations with caution and mixed feelings about the future.
Damascus: Quiet celebrations
In Damascus, Christmas liturgies continue in historic churches, where sermons emphasize spiritual consolation, forgiveness, and prayers for national reconciliation. Public celebrations are more modest than before the war, with fewer large street festivities and a stronger focus on prayer, small family gatherings, and helping those who lost relatives or homes.
Maaloula: Faith amid scars
In Maaloula, a traditionally Christian village about 56 km northeast of Damascus, where Aramaic is still used in liturgy, Christmas retains a deeply spiritual character rooted in church hymns and communal prayer. Residents keep decorations simple and concentrate on attending services and supporting one another, as memories of earlier attacks and displacement continue to shape a fragile sense of security.
Grief, anxiety, and emigration
Many families are mourning relatives killed in bombings and clashes, and this grief makes overt celebration emotionally difficult. Persistent fears of renewed violence, along with harsh economic conditions, push some Christians to consider emigration, leaving remaining communities smaller but tightly knit and intent on preserving their traditions.
Meaning of Christmas for them
For many Syrian Christians this year, Christmas is less about outward festivity and more about hope, survival, and intercession for peace in their country. Lighting trees, singing carols, and gathering in churches become acts of quiet defiance against fear, affirming that their communities are still present despite wounds, grief, and anxiety.
Maaloula is home to several historic Christian sites, most notably the Monastery of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Mar Sarkis) and the Convent of Saint Thecla (Mar Takla). Both monasteries date back to the 4th century and were damaged during the Syrian civil war, but have since undergone significant reconstruction and are open to visitors.
Current estimates vary, but most recent reports suggest there are only a few hundred thousand Christians left in Syria today, down sharply from well over a million before 2011. Many detailed studies and church-linked reports now place the number in roughly the 300,000–400,000 range, with some wider estimates stretching up toward about half a million, reflecting the uncertainty of data in a country still emerging from war and displacement.
The largest remaining Christian communities in Syria are concentrated in a few key cities (Damascus, Aleppo, Latakia and Tartous, Wadi al‑Nasara and Safita, Maaloula, Saidnaya) and pockets of the countryside.
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© Copyright 2025 – Eurasia Business News. Article no. 1950
Eurasia Business News 