Source: www.worthynews.com
Date: September 14, 2026
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief
DAMASCUS/BRUSSELS (Worthy News) – European policymakers, church leaders and representatives of Syria’s Christian communities have urged the country’s transitional authorities to protect minority Christians amid concerns over the future of believers in the war-torn Middle East nation.
At a conference in the European Parliament of the 27-nation European Union, they appealed for guarantees of religious freedom, equal citizenship and meaningful political participation as years of reported persecution have dramatically reduced Syria’s Christian population.
Only about 300,000 Christians are believed to remain among Syria’s roughly 25 million people, according to persecution watchdog Open Doors, although reliable population figures are difficult to establish after more than a decade of war.
Syria has been led since January 2025 by President Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose Islamist-led forces spearheaded the offensive that toppled longtime President Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, ending more than five decades of Assad family rule.
Al-Sharaa previously headed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which emerged from an organization formerly affiliated with al-Qaida. He has since sought to publicly distance himself from his jihadist past and pledged to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, but EU conference participants concluded that tensions have remained.
CHRISTIANS KILLED
The gathering in Brussels, Belgium, came as Syria jumped from 18th place in 2025 to sixth on Open Doors’ 2026 World Watch List of countries where Christians face the most severe persecution and discrimination, making it the only newcomer to the top 10.
Advocacy group Open Doors reported that Syria’s overall persecution score increased from 78 to 90 out of 100, largely because of a sharp rise in anti-Christian violence.
The organization documented at least 27 Syrian Christians killed for their faith during its reporting period from October 1, 2024, through September 30, 2025, compared with none during the preceding 12 months.
Among the dead were 22 Christians killed in the June 2025 suicide bombing of the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus. Another 63 people were wounded.
Open Doors also cited attacks on churches and forced closures of Christian schools.
ISLAMIC LAW CONCERNS
The organization described Syria as experiencing its most dangerous period for Christians since Islamic State controlled significant parts of the country.
Concerns also surround Syria’s March 2025 interim constitution, which established a five-year transitional period and gives the president sweeping powers.
The constitutional declaration makes Islamic jurisprudence the main source of legislation, raising concerns about judicial safeguards for Christians and other religious minorities.
Among cases raising concern is that of Suleiman Khalil, a Syriac Orthodox Christian and former mayor of the predominantly Christian town of Sadad who helped organize its defense against Islamic State militants in 2015.
Khalil, 52, has been imprisoned since February 8, 2025, without being formally charged or given access to a lawyer, according to Christian advocates.
CHRISTIAN DETAINED
A coalition of religious freedom advocates, including former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, appealed in June to U.S. Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack to intervene.
“Mr. Khalil’s actions in defending his town against ISIS should be celebrated by all Syrians, especially the new government, which has officially joined the U.S.-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS,” they wrote, referring to the group also known as Islamic State. “Instead, Syria’s government appears to be punishing him for it.”
The advocates urged authorities to release Khalil or provide him with legal counsel, medical care, details of any charges and due process.
Advocacy group Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has also reported the detention of four Christians from the Christian-majority town of Saydnaya over their alleged involvement in defending the community during a rebel attack in 2014.
CSI alleges that some Christians believed to be wealthy have been detained on questionable accusations before their families were pressed for payments to secure their release. Worthy News could not independently verify those allegations.
CHRISTIAN KILLED
Other Christians have reportedly faced more violent outcomes.
Fadi Abdo al-Shaer, a Christian from Kafrbo in Hama province who had served in the National Defense Forces under Assad, was abducted with his 7-year-old daughter on July 7, according to CSI.
The child was released, but al-Shaer’s body was discovered two days later. He had been shot dead, the organization reported.
CSI noted that some former members of the National Defense Forces have been implicated in serious crimes but maintained that it had found no evidence linking al-Shaer to such offenses.
However, another recent case raised hope that the treatment of Christians may eventually improve.
PASTOR FREED
Pastor Nihad Hassan, head of the Evangelical Kurdish Church in Beirut and originally from Syria’s Afrin region, was released August 3 after being detained in Syria since July 19, according to sources involved in his situation.
His Syrian attorney, Nazir Sheik Mohammad, said Hassan had been detained over an alleged violation of Syria’s cybercrime law involving social media comments dating from 2021, during Assad’s rule.
Mohammad said the alleged offense was covered by an amnesty declared by al-Sharaa’s government.
After Hassan’s case was transferred to judicial authorities in Aleppo, a judge ordered his release and the return of his vehicle and belongings, according to the lawyer, who added that the pastor had been treated well.
The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), the global network representing evangelical Christians, welcomed the outcome while acknowledging that Hassan’s detention had initially raised concerns about religious freedom and freedom of expression.
WEA WELCOMES RELEASE
“The release of Pastor Hassan has reassured the local and international public and has demonstrated the government’s commitment to justice and fundamental freedoms,” the WEA said in a statement seen by Worthy News.
Yet broader concerns remain over the future of Syria’s Christian communities and their place in the country’s emerging political system.
Against that backdrop, participants at the Brussels conference on Tuesday, September 8, stressed that the survival of Syria’s historic Christian communities depends not merely on physical security or keeping churches open but on enforceable legal protections, property rights, accountability for abuses, political inclusion and the safe return of displaced people.
“The aspiration of Christians is not ‘Syria for Christians,’ but Syria for all Syrians,” said Vasilios Khamis, a priest of the Antiochian Orthodox Church. “The Christian is not a guest in Syria, nor does the Muslim alone own the homeland; the homeland belongs to all its citizens.”
“What is needed is not protection of Christians from Syrians, but a state that protects all Syrians,” Khamis added.
EXISTENTIAL CHALLENGE
Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo Georges Masri described the challenge confronting Christians as existential.
“The challenge facing Christians in Syria, and in the East more broadly, is an existential challenge, and we do not have the luxury of much time to confront it,” Masri said.
He called for a fully civil constitution guaranteeing equal rights and responsibilities regardless of religious, tribal or sectarian affiliation.
Sanharib Barsom, co-chair of the Syriac Union Party, expressed concern about what he described as the systematic political marginalization of Christians and the role of Islamic jurisprudence in Syria’s emerging constitutional system.
“Our message is clear: Syria must become a democratic, pluralistic, and civil state for all its citizens,” Barsom said. “A state that protects equal citizenship, freedom of religion, political participation, individual and collective rights, and the future of all its historical communities.”
POLITICAL RIGHTS
Ahead of the gathering, Thibault Van Den Bossche, an advocacy officer for religious freedom at the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), an international nongovernmental organization focusing on human rights and religious freedom, stressed that Syrian Christians were not demanding special privileges or confessional power-sharing.
“Their future depends on a constitutional system that protects fundamental rights equally for all Syrians, regardless of religion, ethnicity, language, gender, political opinion or regional background,” he said.
The conference, titled “The Future of Christians in Syria: Religious Freedom, Political Representation, Common Future,” brought together European officials, church leaders and representatives of Christian and Syriac political organizations.
Among the speakers were European Union Special Envoy for the Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief Mairead McGuinness and Nadine Maenza, co-chair of the Washington-based International Religious Freedom Roundtable and former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Hosted by Dutch European Parliament member Bert-Jan Ruissen, co-chair of the Parliament’s Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance, the gathering was co-organized by the European Syriac Union, ECLJ, Syriac Cross Belgium, Sallux ECPP Foundation and Jubilee Campaign Netherlands.
EU ENVOY SPEAKS
The ECLJ urged equal protection before the law, freedom of worship and property rights for Christians and other indigenous religious communities, as well as the ability to rebuild their communities without discrimination, Islamist reprisals or sectarian pressure.
It also called for direct Christian participation in drafting Syria’s permanent constitution and shaping the country’s emerging political institutions.
Despite continuing concerns, al-Sharaa has repeatedly sought to reassure minorities and Western governments that the new Syria will protect its diverse religious and ethnic communities.
For Christians gathered in Brussels, however, the decisive test will be whether those assurances translate into lasting constitutional guarantees and equal treatment under the law.
“The survival of Syria’s historic Christian communities will be an important test of whether the country can become a genuinely pluralistic and democratic state for all its citizens,” Van Den Bossche said.