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Syria

Eastern Catholicism in Syria

There are six Christian Eastern Catholic churches in Syria, in order of size: Melkite (Greek Catholic), Armenian, Syrian, Maronite, Latin and Chaldean. The Syrian Uniate and Roman Catholic Churches were favored by the French, themselves Catholic.

Demographically, Syrian Catholics were concentrated in areas where the French were also located, facilitating regular communication between the two...

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Greek Orthodox Church in Syria, The

The Greek Orthodox Church consists of four patriarchates; Syrian Greek Orthodox Christians are under the episcopal jurisdiction of the See of Antioch. The Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch has been based in Damascus since the 14th century, though membership is concentrated in Aleppo, Homs, and Latakia. Its membership is majority Arab and the liturgy is in Arabic. The current Patriarch of the Church is John Yazigi, elected in 2012.

The economic policies of the French colonial powers in Syria disproportionately favored middle and upper class Christian—especially...

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Imam Musa al-Sadr

Imam Musa al-Sadr (1928-1978) was an Iranian-Lebanese Shi’a religious leader. As head of the Supreme Islamic Shi’ite Council in 1973, he issued a highly influential fatwa recognizing Syria’s Alawis as Shi’a Muslims.

Islam in Syria

Muslims make up about 90% of the Syrian population, including Sunnis and Shi’a Muslims, and encompass a wide variety of beliefs and practices, including varieties of Sufism. The Syrian Constitution requires that the President be Muslim, although there is no official religion of the Syrian state. As of 2004, Sunni Muslims made up about 74%, while Shi’a groups constituted about 16%. The Syrian government recognizes the ...

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Jabhat al-Nusra

Jabhat al-Nusra is a Sunni Islamist jihadist militia with affiliations to al-Qaeda currently active in the armed opposition to the Syrian government. The United Nations and the United States have designated Jabhat al-Nusra as a terrorist organization. Its leader is Abu Mohammed al-Jawani.

Judaism in Syria

Syria has had well-established Jewish communities since at least the Roman period. These have included a community of Arab Jews, referred to as Musta’arabi or Mizrahi, from the Roman period, Sephardic Jews who settled in Syria following their forced migration from Spain in 1492, and Jewish merchants from Europe. The largest centers of Jewish life were in Aleppo, Damascus, and in the largely Kurdish town of Qamishli. The Aleppo Codex, the oldest manuscript of the Bible completed in in the year 920, was housed in Aleppo from the 15th century until 1947. A portion of the...

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Maronite Church in Syria, The

The Maronite Church is an Eastern Catholic Church, or Uniate Church, that follows the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded by the 4th century Syriac monk St. Maron (d. 410 CE) and grew out of the Monastery of Bait Maron in the 5th century, spreading throughout the Levant. Mass is held in Syriac-Aramaic and in Arabic. As a result of Maronite ties to Rome, the Maronite community has traditionally been isolated from the Eastern Orthodox churches and among Arabs. However, Maronite resistance to the Latinized...

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