Massacre at Mar Elias Church in Damascus: The ECLJ Calls on Europe to Protect Syrian Christians

At least 25 dead and over 60 injured: this is the grim toll of the suicide attack that occurred during Sunday Mass on June 22 at Mar Elias Church in Damascus. The blood-stained walls and desecrated icons bear witness to the dark future looming over Syrian Christians, under a government dominated by jihadist ideology.

The Greek Orthodox Church of Mar Elias, or Saint Elijah, located in the Dweila district of Damascus, was the target of a particularly deadly attack during Sunday Mass on June 22, 2025. A man first opened fire from outside the building before entering and detonating a suicide bomb. Though not yet claimed, the attack is believed by the Interior Ministry to be linked to the Islamic State organization. Shocking images of the bloodshed have gone viral and have stirred the international community.

“The perfidious hand of evil struck tonight, taking the lives of our loved ones, who fell today as martyrs during the divine evening liturgy,” declared the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, who called on Syrian authorities to take full responsibility for the attack and to ensure the protection of all citizens.

Wael Kassouha, head of the Syria mission for the NGO SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, testified:

“In just a few seconds, a praying congregation was turned into a scene of horror. This is not only an attack on a church, but an attack on the heart of every Syrian and our right to live our faith in peace. We will not let violence silence our prayer. We demand justice.”

In this uncertain context, the ECLJ is mobilizing for Syria’s Christian communities

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Syrian Christians have endured a wave of abuses that has fueled a deep sense of fear within this already vulnerable community. As for the protection of minorities promised by the government of Ahmed al-Charaa, founder of the terrorist group al-Nusra, it has remained purely rhetorical and has not materialized into any concrete action. Christians fear an upsurge in instability and feel a heavy burden of threats hanging over them.

A climate of fear and insecurity reigns within this community—one of the oldest in Syria—fueled by persecution and targeted killings. Thus, the faithful were not surprised by the latest terrorist attack, the first since the departure of Bashar al-Assad:

“Many incidents have been recorded against churches since the regime’s fall, and the authorities have done nothing to stop it. Honestly, what just happened doesn’t surprise me,” said Father Yohanna Schéhadé, priest of Mar Elias.

Communal tensions are multiplying, and like the Alawites in March 2025, and then the Druze in April, the Christian minority is becoming an easy target for Muslim extremists whose violence is well known.

We had already warned the European Parliament about the situation of Syrian Christians during a conference organized by the “Christians of the Middle East” Intergroup on February 12, 2025. To raise public awareness of the threats to their survival, we also published an op-ed in Le Journal du Dimanche: “Threat to Syria’s Christians: Europe Must Act.”

The European Centre for Law and Justice recommends that the international community, particularly European institutions:

1. Condition any European aid and any lifting of sanctions on firm guarantees for the protection of Syria’s Christians.
2. Resume dialogue with the new Syrian authorities only in parallel with increased scrutiny of the situation of religious and ethnic minorities on the ground.
3. Allocate human and financial resources to support the implementation of concrete solutions aimed at safeguarding the religious freedom of Christians.

By Domitille Casarotto, Geopolitics student