Patriarch Gregorius: Syria’s beleagured Christians worry about role of extremists
(Vatican Radio) In Syria a number of predominantly Christian towns or districts have
been attacked by rebel forces or come under increased shelling in recent weeks. Last
week, rebel fighters briefly seized the predominantly Christian town of Sadad near
Damascus and a month earlier it was a similar situation in the ancient Christian majority
town of Maaloula. In the capital Damascus, rebel shelling recently has increasingly
hit several majority-Christian districts, particularly Al-Qassaa.
Patriarch
Gregorius Laham III is the spiritual leader of the Greek Melkite Catholic Church and
is based in Damascus. Susy Hodges asked him about the attack on the town of Sadad
and whether he shared the fears expressed by many Syrian Christians that Islamic extremists
and foreign fighters among the rebels are deliberately targeting Christians.
Listen
to the full interview with Patriarch Gregorius Laham III:
Patriarch
Laham said whilst government troops have now recaptured the Christian town of Sadad,
many houses were destroyed or vandalized by the rebel fighters and several churches
are reported to have been badly damaged or desecrated during the rebel assault. He
also said the inhabitants of the historic Christian town of Maaloula are still too
afraid to return to their homes because although government troops recaptured the
town in early September, there are still rebel forces based in the mountains surrounding
Maaloula.
When asked if he fears that Islamic extremists among the rebel
forces are deliberately targeting Syria’s Christians, the Patriarch said he couldn’t
say that this was definitely the case but said it was true that some extremist foreign
fighters among the rebels did appear to be wanting to target Christians, describing
them as infidels or pagans. However, he stressed, that this was not the normal behaviour
of Syria's Muslims and went against the tradition of peaceful co-existence between
the two communities.