Christianity in Syria Christians in Syria make up about 10% of the population.[1] The countrys largest Christian denomination is the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch (known as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East),[2][3][4] closely followed by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, itself a Uniate offshoot of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch,[5] and then by an Oriental Syriac Orthodox Church; there are also a minority of Protestants and members of the Assyrian Church of the East and Chaldean Catholic Church. The city of Aleppo is believed to have the largest number of Christians in Syria. Damascus was one of the first regions to receive Christianity during the ministry of St Peter. There were more Christians in Damascus than anywhere else. After the military expansion of the Umayyad empire into Syria and Anatolia, the teachings of Islam came into practice and many became Muslims. In May 2011, International Christian Concern indicated that Christians in Syria were more afraid of the anti-government protesters than of the government itself, because under the Syrian Assad government there has been tolerance towards religious minorities. Syrian Christians have their own courts that deal with civil cases like marriage, divorce and inheritance based on Bible teachings. By agreement with other communities, Syrian Christian churches do not proselytise to Muslims and do not accept converts from Islam. Noteworthy Syrian Christians include the chronicler Paul of Aleppo, the chess player Philip Stamma, and the Syrian Armenian musician George Tutunjian. The largest Christian denomination in Syria is the Greek Orthodox church, formerly known as the Melkite church after the 5-6th century Christian splits, in which its clergy remained loyal to the Eastern Roman Emperor (melek) of Constantinople. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_syria
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 17:09:10 +0000
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