(20 Apr 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 20 April 2025
1. Various of Syrian Christians arriving at Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus to attend Easter prayers
2. Various of security personnel taking security measures in the vicinity of the cathedral, searching for explosives
3. Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X leading believers into church as part of the Easter prayers
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Manal Yaziji, Syrian Christian:
"God willing, we hope that we are truly going through a transition and being reborn with the new government, a government through which we hope to see all the joy and happiness. May peace prevail in our country, and we hope that all the sanctions will be lifted from our country. And (we hope) to see Syria to return to what the people have been waiting for, a Syria of joy, a Syria of goodness, love and peace."
5. Various of worshippers and clergy attending Easter Mass inside Mariamite Cathedral
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Salwa Baghdan, Syrian Christian:
"We hope that the new government will try to maintain security and peace, and that we can go back to living in a country where we all feel at ease together (like before), and be done with the wars and problems."
7. Various of worshippers inside Mariamite Cathedral
8. Colored eggs in baskets
9. Various of clergy leading worship
10. Worshippers lighting candles
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Patriarch John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East:
"We as Christians, we are citizens in this part of this country and we live as usual. After the revolution, we believe in the new Syria, Syria which has a base of the human dignity, the equality – and (where) all the citizens are equal in front of the law."
12. Various of believers leaving the cathedral and taking photos in yard
STORYLINE:
Syrian Christians attended Easter Mass at the Mariamite Cathedral of Damascus on Sunday, marking the day with hopes for a peaceful future.
Patriarch of Antioch and All the East John X led Easter Mass, guiding worshippers into the cathedral as part of the prayers.
This Easter comes months after the ouster of longtime president Bashar Assad in December by insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group.
"God willing, we hope that we are truly going through a transition and being reborn with the new government," said Manal Yaziji, a Syrian Christian.
Christians made up about 10% of Syria’s prewar population of 23 million, co-existing with the Muslim majority and enjoying freedom of worship under the Assad government.
The last parliament speaker under Assad was Christian.
But since civil war began in 2011 with a popular uprising against Assad and a government crackdown, hundreds of thousands of Christians have left the country.
The rise of the Islamic State group, and its attack 10 years ago, helped to drive them out.
Syria’s new transitional government was sworn in last month nearly four months after the Assad family was removed from power and as the new authorities in Damascus work to bring back stability to the war-torn country.
The 23-member Cabinet, which is religiously and ethnically mixed, is the first in the country’s five-year transitional period and replaces the interim government that was formed shortly after Bashar Assad was removed from power in early December.
"We hope that the new government will try to maintain security and peace, and that we can go back to living in a country where we all feel at ease together," said Salwa Baghdan, a Syrian Christian.
AP video shot by Abdel Rahman Shaheen
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