Syrian stability pivotal for future of Christians in Middle East

“Syria is a pivotal State and its future political and religious stability has implications not just for Syria itself but for the region, in particular for Christianity in the region”, says Anthony O’ Mahony, Reader in Theology and the History of Christianity, director of the centre for Eastern Christianity, at Heythrop College University of London.

The popular upheaval in Syria is now stretching into its fifth month, with no signs of concession from President Bashir al-Assad. The death toll from the government crackdown on protesters across the country exceeds 1,600 with an estimated 3,000 arrests.

The protesters, who initially demanded democratic and economic reform as with other revolts that have swept the region as part of the so-called ‘Arab Spring’, now seek the end of Assad’s almost 40 year grip on power.

However analysts are concerned over sectarian killings in the city of Homs this month, particularly given Syria’s reputation as a nation with a rich ethnic and religious mix. The Alawite sect, an off-shoot of Shi'ite Islam to which the ruling Assad family belongs, is a minority in Syria, which has a Sunni Muslim majority, as well as smaller numbers of Druze, Christians and non-Arab Kurds.

O’Mahony says Syria must not become another Iraq where following the 2001 US-led invasion and the toppling of the Baath Party, minorities – particularly Christians - paid the heaviest price in the sectarian struggle to fill the power-vacuum. Moreover, the Syrians themselves - he says -do not want this.

On Friday the Canadian based Alliance of Middle Eastern Christians (RCMO), issued an appeal to Damascus to enter into dialogue with protesters. “Syria – reads the appeal - is suffering from painful events where use of violence is causing many casualties and wounding scores of others, following demonstrations demanding reforms to eliminate corruption and promote freedom and natural legal rights of the people" which could undermine the national spirit of harmony between religious and cultural components, that has always characterized Syria. RCMO also warns against “external interference in local Syria’s affairs, or any form of sectarian incitement, whether from governments, entities or third parties that aim only to exploit the crisis in order to achieve its interests and maintain or even increase the state of tension, causing more material and human losses”.

O Mahony adds: “The Christian communities have suffered a great deal within the region within the last two to three decades. People are concerned about the large numbers of Christians leaving the region, impoverishing the region and making it less that what it was. But also the Christians who are indigenous to the whole of the region are losing their relationship to the land of Christ’s birth, so the future of stability in Syria is important and the future of Christianity is Syria is important”. Listen to Emer McCarthy’s full interview with Anthony O’ Mahony: