Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
by Pascale Rizk
Damascus (Agenzia Fides) - "On the day our Church of Antioch commemorates all the Antiochian saints, the treacherous hand of injustice has risen this evening and reaped our souls along with the souls of our loved ones who fell as martyrs today during the evening Mass at the Church of St. Elias in Dwela'a in Damascus." With these words, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, led by Patriarch Yohanna X, addressed the faithful around the world following the massacre perpetrated during the evening Mass on Sunday, June 22.
The Church of St. Elias is located in the Tabbalah neighborhood, at the entrance to the Douweila neighborhood. It was built in 1990. It is a monastic complex with a church, a school, and several guest rooms for pilgrims and students.
According to information from local sources, the attack began with several shots fired at praying Christians from outside the church. Then, at least two suicide bombers wearing explosive belts entered the church through the rear entrance to the altar and blew themselves up.
The eyewitness account of Laure al Nasr
Meanwhile, a video with the account of eyewitness Laure al Nasr was posted on social media: Her husband, Geryes el Bechara, a member of the General Directorate of the Road Traffic Authority, tried to stop the attacker along with Botros el Bechara, one of the brothers present at the mass. "The shots," Laura recounts in her account, traumatized by her own grief, "first hit the church windows, frightening the people who gathered around the altar. As the attacker entered the church," the witness continued, "Geryes and Botros tried to stop him: one by hitting him on the arm to make him drop a grenade that hadn't exploded, the other by trying to pull him out of the church." At that moment, the suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt and blew himself up. "I saw the bodies of my husband and my brother-in-law being torn to pieces, one next to the other. They tried to save us all; they are martyrs for our Church." Other family members died in the massacre: their sister Myriam, cousins Julia, Sleman, and Nabil. A niece and a third brother of Geryes and Botros, notary Elias el Bechara, were seriously injured.
Unconfirmed information suggests the suicide bombers may have been of Pakistani origin, and another attacker is said to have escaped after the massacre.
So far, the provisional death toll amounts to 22 and 53 injured. "We continue to collect the remains and bodies of our martyrs," reads the statement released by the Patriarchate.
The government's reactions
Professor Hind Aboud Kabawat (see Fides, 12/2/2025), Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, the only Christian minister in the government led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, went to the scene of the attack to express the Syrian government's closeness to the community affected by the massacre. Government authorities condemned the attack and blamed individuals linked to the so-called Islamic State. "This criminal act, targeting members of the Christian community, is a desperate attempt to undermine national unity and destabilize the country, as well as a response by the remnants of terrorism to the continued successes of the Syrian state and leadership," reads the government statement.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, under the name Abu Muhammed el-Jolani, headed the Islamist "Hayat Tahrir al-Sham" for years, which played a leading role in the fight against the Assad regime, which collapsed in December of last year.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba announced that "all those involved in this criminal act will be held accountable, and we will work to restore the church to its former glory."
The solidarity of the entire population with the church affected by the massacre was also expressed through blood donations in the hospitals where the wounded are being treated. Meanwhile, Islamists are praising the massacre and issuing intimidating messages directed at Christians in other Syrian cities. Official expressions of solidarity with the Syrian Christians, however, came from leaders of other religious communities, while several ministers visited the wounded and their families in hospitals.
In the final part of the message, issued by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of AntiochThe statement, published on , calls on the relevant authorities in Syria to "assume full responsibility for the protection of the Holy Sites and all citizens." This at a time when the entire Middle East seems more than ever to be dominated by "inhuman forces that want to accelerate the end of the world" (Pope Francis). (Agenzia Fides, 23/6/2025)
