Damascus (AsiaNews) – A new episode of anti-Christian violence is fuelling concerns in a community still reeling from the massacre at a Damascus church, and struggling to "heal the wounds" caused by years of war, poverty, and the rise of radical Islamic groups.
On Tuesday evening (but information filtered out only today), Chorbishop Michel Naaman (pictured), vicar general of the Syriac Catholic archdiocese of Homs, Hama and Al-Nabek, was robbed at gunpoint outside his home in an incident that “nearly cost him his life”.
The clergyman lives in Zaidal, a predominantly Christian village about seven kilometres from the city of Homs. Local sources report that two masked men stopped him, claiming to be members of a militia calling itself "General Security”. They threatened him with weapons, stole his golden cross, along with other personal effects, and left undisturbed after the attack.
Chorbishop Naaman said that he was surprised by the armed men when he arrived home. Pressed against a wall, he was threatened with a gun. Along with the cross, which he had had for more than 50 years, they took other personal effects, like his keys and phone, leaving him frightened and shaken.
He told them that he was a man of God, and did not carry weapons and would not resist. But for him, members of a security service do not act this way.
The Syriac Catholic priest suffered injuries to his shoulder after the attackers pushed him around. Not fearing for himself, he said that his thoughts were for the victims of similar attacks and that his survival was God’s will. He thanked the villagers and priests who helped him after the attack.
The Assyrian Human Rights Monitor was among the first to report and condemn this latest episode of anti-Christian violence in Syria, now ruled by Ahmed al-Sharaa and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which took over after the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime last December.
In a statement, the group writes that, “This painful incident – which could have cost him his life – is not merely an isolated crime, but rather a new link in an increasing chain of assaults targeting innocent citizens, shaking the security and stability of society.”
Father Michel Naaman was “terrorized under the guise of ‘security’,” which is not guaranteed to large sections of the Syrian population, from the Christian and Alawite minorities to the Druze.”
The Assyrian organisation blames the new, HTS-linked leaders, holding them "directly responsible" for two reasons: their inability to guarantee the safety and protection of people, a duty that falls to the state; and the continued ease with which personnel supposedly responsible for security resort to masks and disguises to target, attack, instil fear, or cover up individuals or groups of criminals.
Calling for “an immediate and transparent investigation” into the incident involving the chorbishop, the group urges “the adoption of strict and effective measures to put an end to such recurring criminal practices and to rebuild trust between citizens and security forces.”
Meanwhile, some news from Syria offers some hope for the future, particularly in areas where jihadi and extremist Islamic groups had seized control from the Assad regime.
The Church of Saint Anna reopened in al-Yaqoubiya, a village west of Idlib, in the northern province bordering Turkey, and the homeland of the current HTS leaders. Last weekend, the Armenian Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, Makar Ashkarian, celebrated the event with a service marking the rebirth of the once destroyed place of worship.
Saint Anne is traditionally celebrated every year in the last week of August and is one of the most important religious holidays for members of the Armenian Orthodox community in Syria.
After 14 years, Mass was celebrated again in the area, attended by a significant number of pilgrims from Aleppo, Latakia, Hasakah, Damascus, and other places.
The current church was rebuilt after the 2020 earthquake that struck the region, at the initiative of the Franciscans, a local Christian source explains, to serve as a symbol of steadfastness, rootedness, and faith.
