On what should have been a peaceful Sunday morning of worship, 25 Syrian Christians were slaughtered for their faith.
As the faithful gathered for Divine Liturgy at Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Dweila, outside Damascus, on June 22, 2025, at least three terrorists shattered the sanctity of the service with bullets and explosives.
The main attacker entered the packed church, opened fire on the 350 worshippers, and detonated his explosive vest at the entrance as they tried to force him out.
On June 22, 2025. A suicide bomber affiliated with ISIS carried out an assault at the Mar Elias (Saint Elias) Greek Orthodox Church in the Dweil’a suburb of Damascus. According to reports, the attacker entered during evening prayers, opened fire, and then detonated his… pic.twitter.com/qD2LFdv4Oz
— Rawan Osman روان عثمان (@RawaneOsmane) June 22, 2025
Meanwhile, at least one terrorist remained outside, firing at worshippers and into the stained-glass windows, while the other attempted to enter and detonate a grenade.
Two parishioners intervened and managed to wrest the device away before it exploded. Still, the blast tore through the church, destroying pews, shattering glass, and leaving blood-stained icons and scattered bodies in what should have been a sanctuary.
“People were praying safely under the eyes of God,” said Father Fadi Ghattas, who witnessed the carnage that left 25 dead and at least 63 wounded. Among the victims were children, innocent lives taken in a place meant to offer peace and protection.
This attack is the latest in a series of assaults on Christians, but it is the first known to be launched from inside a church since the Syrian conflict began in 201, marking a disturbing escalation in violence and a grave violation of holy spaces.
But the historical significance was even more damning.
In a devastating public statement directed at President al-Sharaa, Patriarch John X Yazigi, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, delivered perhaps the most scathing indictment possible from a religious leader: “There has been no attack on a church since 1860 except during your reign.”
Many Christians on the ground in Syria, speaking anonymously, said they believed the government was involved in the attack. Shortly afterward, the regime claimed that “security forces raided hideouts used by Islamic State, killing two of its members, including one who facilitated the suicide bomber’s entry into Mar Elias Church.”
But given the allegations of government involvement, this statement is widely seen as a possible cover-up. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that one injured attacker was taken to al-Mujtahid Hospital, where it was discovered he was affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Defense and originally from Deir ez-Zor Governorate.
The attack on Mar Elias Church cannot be separated from the broader context of who now rules Syria.
The country’s de facto governing power, following the ouster of Bashar al-Assad, is Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a faction that traces its origins directly to al-Qaeda.
Founded in 2011 as Jabhat al-Nusra—al-Qaeda’s official Syrian affiliate, the group later rebranded as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham in 2016, and then as HTS in 2017 after merging with other Islamist factions.
Despite claims of breaking ties with al-Qaeda, the split is widely viewed as strategic rather than ideological.
HTS’s leader and current Syrian strongman, Ahmed al-Sharaa (formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani), was originally sent to Syria by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi to establish the al-Qaeda branch.
Al-Sharaa had previously fought under the infamous Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and spent five years in an Iraqi prison for terrorist activities.
The U.S. State Department continues to offer a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture, and experts reject his claims that HTS no longer adheres to Salafi-jihadist ideology.
Under HTS control, religious minorities have suffered extensive repression.
In Idlib, where HTS has ruled for over a decade, Christian communities have all but disappeared. Reports indicate that only two elderly Christians remain.
Clergy are banned from wearing visible religious clothing in public, and crosses have been stripped from church buildings.
Human rights organizations have documented widespread abuses, including the seizure of property belonging to displaced Christians and Druze, as well as forced conversions.
The 2023 U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom report found that HTS continues to enforce a hardline Salafi interpretation of Islamic law, disenfranchising Christians, Druze, and other non-Sunni groups.
Druze residents were forced to convert to Sunni Islam, yet even after doing so, 20 were massacred by HTS fighters in June 2015.
The group also expropriated Christian and Druze properties and attempted to erase their religious identities.
These actions reflect not only an assault on Syria’s religious diversity but a persistent, ideologically driven campaign of sectarian domination.
The Syrian government’s response has only deepened Christian outrage. Across the country, believers expressed anger that President al-Sharaa failed to properly honor the dead.
Even in his message of condolence, he did not ask for mercy on the victims and, most tellingly, referred to them as “killed” rather than “martyred.” This was no accident.
Dying for one’s faith while in prayer is martyrdom, a sacred death that signifies sainthood and ultimate witness to Christ. By deliberately avoiding the word “martyr,” the government not only diminished the spiritual significance of their deaths but signaled a deeper disregard for religious identity and freedom.
The most damning critique came from Patriarch John X Yazigi, spiritual leader of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East.
Speaking at the funeral, he revealed that no one from the government visited the site of the bombing except the Christian minister, likely Hind Kabawat, the sole Christian in the new administration. For many, this token presence symbolized the regime’s neglect of Syria’s Christian community.
In perhaps his most powerful statement, the Patriarch addressed President al-Sharaa directly: “You give birth to ten to twenty children; we give birth to one or two. And some of these children were martyred yesterday in the bombing. What can I say to their families now?”
His words captured not only the grief of the moment, but the demographic crisis facing Syria’s ancient Christian population. Each life lost is not just a personal tragedy, it is the erosion of a dwindling community, where every death carries immeasurable weight.
They should have been martyrs, and now there are growing fears they won’t be the last.
The post They Should Have Been Called Martyrs: Syria’s Church Bombing and the Government’s Possible Involvement appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
