Beyond Your Door Step: Easter on the Syrian Border

Benediction before the midnight mass

This weekend marks one of the largest holiday for the Christian faith, Easter. The ancient city of Antioch, currently known as Antakya, has always been a major hub for Catholic, and Orthodox Christians alike, as the city holds one of the first five churches of early Christendom. It was here that St. Paul began his missionary journeys, allowing the city to claim the “world's first cathedral”, and where religious followers of Jesus Christ were first recorded as being called “Christians".

Antakya is the main town in Hatay that reaches out to the rural border villages. It has always been a city of mixed culture: Muslim, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Arabs, and Turks. Since the start of the Syrian civil war, hundreds of thousands of Syrians, both Muslim, and Christian, have crossed over into Hatay. On Good Friday, in the middle of the church's stone courtyard and surrounded by fruiting orange trees, Father Dominic talked about the changes the Syrian war has created for the Catholic congregation in Antakya.

Father Dominic leading a procession to the church

"Many Syrian Christians already have relatives here in Antioch.” He explained, “It's hard to say how many new people have joined this church, not everyone comes on a regular basis, but it is still noticeably bigger. A lot [of people] left for fear of religious persecution; so many people just practice their faith at home with their families while they wait to relocate to Europe."

Two hundred and eighty kilometers (175 miles) east of Antakya is the city of Homs, Syria. Once home to tens of thousands Christians, the city’s Christian population has now shrunk to less than 100 due to the war and radical Islamic organizations who target Christians. The most notable of these religious killings is the recent assassination of the 75 year old Jesuit Dutch priest, Frans van der Lugt, was widely known for staying in the besieged city of Homs, while constantly calling for humanitarian aid and working for peace before he was dragged from his home last week and shot twice in the head by an unknown gunman.

Prayer, and song inside the church

"Here in Turkey, we are safe," Father Dominic told me, "Over there [in Syria] there are many people who only care about who you are: Christian, Shia, Sunni, Alawite. Many people say they are faithful, but do not act as their religions tells them to. They have a black and white mentality. Here in Turkey, there is tension between people, yes, but there is still no violence. Here, we are safe."