Christians in Damascus—a city associated with St Paul’s, Celebrate Sunday Mass

The Christian population of Syria, popularly known as Syrian Christians, attended a regular Mass on Sunday amidst take-over of the governance by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). After the global diplomatic exercise in the last few days, including that of the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to ensure that the new rulers assure to protect minorities, the Christian population in Syria has started to breathe free, though they are not very sure, according to news reports.

The Syrian capital, Damacus, has a large Christian population, who have been following Christianity before the arrival of Islam on earth. St Paul, a Roman citizen credited for the spread of what today is known as Christianity with a church, was associated with Damascus; and therefore, Damacus hold a special significance in the Christendom.

Rebels of different Islamic groups, including HTS, had over-thrown the 50-long years of autocratic rule of the Assad family, coercing President Bashar al-Assad to flee the country last week, are in the helm of affairs now. Syria is an important nation not just for economic and military reasons, but for its historicity too, particularly related to knowledge, culture, St Paul and Christianity.