Persecution

Syrias 2,000 Year Old Christian Roots Are Being Torn Out: 1.5 Million Christians Down to 300,000

Crusaders Call Team

07 May 2026 — 2 min read

Open Doors Lists Syria as Sixth Worst for Persecution as Foreign Fighters Burn Trees, Bomb Churches, and Teach Children Welcome to Death for Allah

Syria, where the Apostle Paul was struck blind on the Damascus road and where Christianity took root 2,000 years ago, has seen its Christian population collapse from 1.5 to 2 million pre 2011 to roughly 300,000 today. Open Doors has just elevated Syria from 18th to 6th on its World Watch List, with a violence score that has nearly doubled.

The new Syrian regime, led by Ahmad al Sharaa, has presided over a campaign of escalating Christian targeting that includes Christmas tree burnings, cemetery desecration, suicide bombings during Liturgy, and indoctrination of children with chants of "Welcome to death for the sake of Allah!"

Syrian Christians Face Extinction Under New Regime as Persecution Score Reaches 90

The persecution catalogue is sickening. Christmas 2024: foreign fighters burned a Christmas tree. February 2025: crosses destroyed in a Christian cemetery in rural Homs. 22 June 2025: a suicide bomber struck the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus during Divine Liturgy, killing at least 25 worshippers and wounding 63. June 2025: the Greek Melkite Church of St Michael in Sweida set ablaze. March 2026: six year old girls filmed chanting their welcome to death.

President Trump met with al Sharaa in Riyadh in May 2025. He revoked Syria sanctions on 30 June 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the revocation of Hayat Tahrir al Sham's Foreign Terrorist Organisation designation on 7 July 2025. Open Doors confirmed at least 27 Syrian Christian deaths in its 2026 report and notes the actual figure is almost certainly higher. Syria's overall persecution score now sits at 90 out of 100, the "extreme" category.

The Crusader's Opinion

Two thousand years. Saint Paul, the Damascus road, the very ground of the early Apostolic Church. Now the Christian population of Syria is one fifth what it was fifteen years ago, and the regime in charge is a former al Qaeda affiliate that the United States just delisted as a terror organisation. Trump and Rubio must answer to Christian voters about the policy of legitimising al Sharaa. Trade and diplomacy cannot come at the cost of letting six year old girls be taught to die for Allah while Syrian Christians are buried in cemeteries someone else digs up. The cradle of our faith is being erased on our watch.

Take Action

Donate: Open Doors UK, supporting Syrian believers
Sponsor: Refugee resettlement for Syrian Christian families
Contact: Your senator demanding sanctions remain on al Sharaa's regime if Christian persecution continues
Pray: For Syria's remaining 300,000 Christians and the Mar Elias victims' families
Share: The 1.5 million to 300,000 collapse and ask "Where is the West's outrage?"

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