Religion leaders urge Trump to defend Syrian Christians

Greater than 80 Christian leaders signed a letter to President Donald Trump forward of his historic White Home assembly Monday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, urging him to recollect the plight of persecuted Christians, Druze and different non secular minorities in Syria.

“With the go to of Syria’s new President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, scheduled for November 10, 2025, we urge you to deal with straight the bloodbath of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites in Syria, notably within the higher Suwayda space,” mentioned the Nov. 7 letter, which will be learn on the web site of the advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians.

Dede Laugesen, president of the Colorado-based group, wrote the letter to Trump, describing him as “the one main world chief preventing for non secular freedom” and highlighting his latest consideration to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“These non secular minorities [in Syria] face ongoing violence, demise, displacement, hunger, and water and medical deprivation, all whereas harmless ladies and kids are held hostage by ISIS terrorists,” the letter continued.

Expressing gratitude for the Trump administration’s latest announcement that humanitarian help is being rushed to southern Syria, the letter expressed urgency for extra to be finished “to stop impending disaster” as winter approaches.

The signatories urged Trump to safe al-Sharaa’s dedication to opening a safe humanitarian hall from Hader to Suwayda in southern Syria.

“This hall will allow protected and safe help supply and civilian evacuation, signaling the brand new authorities’s dedication to minority rights and stability,” they wrote.

Signatories embody Dr. Ben Carson and Eric Metaxas, each members of the White Home Spiritual Liberty Fee; former Ambassador-at-Giant for Worldwide Spiritual Freedom Sam Brownback; Household Analysis Council President Tony Perkins; Pastors Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs and Rob Pacienza; Religion & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, and others.

Al-Sharaa’s go to marks the primary time a sitting Syrian president has visited Washington, D.C., since Syria gained independence in 1946.

A former chief of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Entrance, al-Sharaa rose to energy after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied militant teams ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad final December, who fled to Russia when his regime collapsed after 25 years.

Al-Sharaa has since distanced himself from his former extremism and pursued U.S. alignment, which has led to steps that embody his removing from U.S. and United Nations terror lists in addition to Syria’s anticipated formal entry right into a U.S.-led coalition to battle a resurgent Islamic State within the area.

On Saturday, Syrian safety forces carried out nationwide preemptive raids towards suspected Islamic State operatives, detaining dozens. Officers declare to have intercepted data suggesting the brutal terrorist group, which managed massive swaths of Iraq and Syria a decade in the past, is getting ready new assaults. 

In June, dozens have been killed in a suicide bombing at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus that occured throughout a Sunday morning service, furthering concern amongst advocates about whether or not al-Sharaa is doing sufficient to guard Christians and different minorities. 

In March, tons of of individuals have been killed in Syria’s Alawite coastal areas amid preventing between pro-Assadist militias and the federal government’s forces within the space. Not less than a dozen factions below the command of the federal government participated within the killing of civilians within the March preventing, in line with Reuters. A number of the killings concerned sheer brutality and torture, together with one man whose coronary heart was ripped out of his chest. 

The Christian inhabitants in Syria has crumbled within the final decade-plus for the reason that begin of the Syrian civil battle in 2011. Talking lately in Rome, Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, Hama and Nabek, who heads the Syriac Catholic Church in central Syria, warned that Christianity is disappearing from Syria amid a mass Christian exodus and “disastrous political and financial scenario.”

Assist to the Church in Want estimates that Christians in Syria have plummeted from about 2.1 million in 2011 to round 540,000 in 2024.

Greater than 80 Christian leaders signed a letter to President Donald Trump forward of his historic White Home assembly Monday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, urging him to recollect the plight of persecuted Christians, Druze and different non secular minorities in Syria.

“With the go to of Syria’s new President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, scheduled for November 10, 2025, we urge you to deal with straight the bloodbath of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites in Syria, notably within the higher Suwayda space,” mentioned the Nov. 7 letter, which will be learn on the web site of the advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians.

Dede Laugesen, president of the Colorado-based group, wrote the letter to Trump, describing him as “the one main world chief preventing for non secular freedom” and highlighting his latest consideration to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“These non secular minorities [in Syria] face ongoing violence, demise, displacement, hunger, and water and medical deprivation, all whereas harmless ladies and kids are held hostage by ISIS terrorists,” the letter continued.

Expressing gratitude for the Trump administration’s latest announcement that humanitarian help is being rushed to southern Syria, the letter expressed urgency for extra to be finished “to stop impending disaster” as winter approaches.

The signatories urged Trump to safe al-Sharaa’s dedication to opening a safe humanitarian hall from Hader to Suwayda in southern Syria.

“This hall will allow protected and safe help supply and civilian evacuation, signaling the brand new authorities’s dedication to minority rights and stability,” they wrote.

Signatories embody Dr. Ben Carson and Eric Metaxas, each members of the White Home Spiritual Liberty Fee; former Ambassador-at-Giant for Worldwide Spiritual Freedom Sam Brownback; Household Analysis Council President Tony Perkins; Pastors Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs and Rob Pacienza; Religion & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, and others.

Al-Sharaa’s go to marks the primary time a sitting Syrian president has visited Washington, D.C., since Syria gained independence in 1946.

A former chief of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Entrance, al-Sharaa rose to energy after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied militant teams ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad final December, who fled to Russia when his regime collapsed after 25 years.

Al-Sharaa has since distanced himself from his former extremism and pursued U.S. alignment, which has led to steps that embody his removing from U.S. and United Nations terror lists in addition to Syria’s anticipated formal entry right into a U.S.-led coalition to battle a resurgent Islamic State within the area.

On Saturday, Syrian safety forces carried out nationwide preemptive raids towards suspected Islamic State operatives, detaining dozens. Officers declare to have intercepted data suggesting the brutal terrorist group, which managed massive swaths of Iraq and Syria a decade in the past, is getting ready new assaults. 

In June, dozens have been killed in a suicide bombing at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus that occured throughout a Sunday morning service, furthering concern amongst advocates about whether or not al-Sharaa is doing sufficient to guard Christians and different minorities. 

In March, tons of of individuals have been killed in Syria’s Alawite coastal areas amid preventing between pro-Assadist militias and the federal government’s forces within the space. Not less than a dozen factions below the command of the federal government participated within the killing of civilians within the March preventing, in line with Reuters. A number of the killings concerned sheer brutality and torture, together with one man whose coronary heart was ripped out of his chest. 

The Christian inhabitants in Syria has crumbled within the final decade-plus for the reason that begin of the Syrian civil battle in 2011. Talking lately in Rome, Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, Hama and Nabek, who heads the Syriac Catholic Church in central Syria, warned that Christianity is disappearing from Syria amid a mass Christian exodus and “disastrous political and financial scenario.”

Assist to the Church in Want estimates that Christians in Syria have plummeted from about 2.1 million in 2011 to round 540,000 in 2024.

Greater than 80 Christian leaders signed a letter to President Donald Trump forward of his historic White Home assembly Monday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, urging him to recollect the plight of persecuted Christians, Druze and different non secular minorities in Syria.

“With the go to of Syria’s new President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, scheduled for November 10, 2025, we urge you to deal with straight the bloodbath of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites in Syria, notably within the higher Suwayda space,” mentioned the Nov. 7 letter, which will be learn on the web site of the advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians.

Dede Laugesen, president of the Colorado-based group, wrote the letter to Trump, describing him as “the one main world chief preventing for non secular freedom” and highlighting his latest consideration to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“These non secular minorities [in Syria] face ongoing violence, demise, displacement, hunger, and water and medical deprivation, all whereas harmless ladies and kids are held hostage by ISIS terrorists,” the letter continued.

Expressing gratitude for the Trump administration’s latest announcement that humanitarian help is being rushed to southern Syria, the letter expressed urgency for extra to be finished “to stop impending disaster” as winter approaches.

The signatories urged Trump to safe al-Sharaa’s dedication to opening a safe humanitarian hall from Hader to Suwayda in southern Syria.

“This hall will allow protected and safe help supply and civilian evacuation, signaling the brand new authorities’s dedication to minority rights and stability,” they wrote.

Signatories embody Dr. Ben Carson and Eric Metaxas, each members of the White Home Spiritual Liberty Fee; former Ambassador-at-Giant for Worldwide Spiritual Freedom Sam Brownback; Household Analysis Council President Tony Perkins; Pastors Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs and Rob Pacienza; Religion & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, and others.

Al-Sharaa’s go to marks the primary time a sitting Syrian president has visited Washington, D.C., since Syria gained independence in 1946.

A former chief of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Entrance, al-Sharaa rose to energy after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied militant teams ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad final December, who fled to Russia when his regime collapsed after 25 years.

Al-Sharaa has since distanced himself from his former extremism and pursued U.S. alignment, which has led to steps that embody his removing from U.S. and United Nations terror lists in addition to Syria’s anticipated formal entry right into a U.S.-led coalition to battle a resurgent Islamic State within the area.

On Saturday, Syrian safety forces carried out nationwide preemptive raids towards suspected Islamic State operatives, detaining dozens. Officers declare to have intercepted data suggesting the brutal terrorist group, which managed massive swaths of Iraq and Syria a decade in the past, is getting ready new assaults. 

In June, dozens have been killed in a suicide bombing at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus that occured throughout a Sunday morning service, furthering concern amongst advocates about whether or not al-Sharaa is doing sufficient to guard Christians and different minorities. 

In March, tons of of individuals have been killed in Syria’s Alawite coastal areas amid preventing between pro-Assadist militias and the federal government’s forces within the space. Not less than a dozen factions below the command of the federal government participated within the killing of civilians within the March preventing, in line with Reuters. A number of the killings concerned sheer brutality and torture, together with one man whose coronary heart was ripped out of his chest. 

The Christian inhabitants in Syria has crumbled within the final decade-plus for the reason that begin of the Syrian civil battle in 2011. Talking lately in Rome, Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, Hama and Nabek, who heads the Syriac Catholic Church in central Syria, warned that Christianity is disappearing from Syria amid a mass Christian exodus and “disastrous political and financial scenario.”

Assist to the Church in Want estimates that Christians in Syria have plummeted from about 2.1 million in 2011 to round 540,000 in 2024.

Greater than 80 Christian leaders signed a letter to President Donald Trump forward of his historic White Home assembly Monday with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, urging him to recollect the plight of persecuted Christians, Druze and different non secular minorities in Syria.

“With the go to of Syria’s new President, Ahmed al-Sharaa, scheduled for November 10, 2025, we urge you to deal with straight the bloodbath of Christians, Kurds, Druze, and Alawites in Syria, notably within the higher Suwayda space,” mentioned the Nov. 7 letter, which will be learn on the web site of the advocacy group Save the Persecuted Christians.

Dede Laugesen, president of the Colorado-based group, wrote the letter to Trump, describing him as “the one main world chief preventing for non secular freedom” and highlighting his latest consideration to the persecution of Christians in Nigeria.

“These non secular minorities [in Syria] face ongoing violence, demise, displacement, hunger, and water and medical deprivation, all whereas harmless ladies and kids are held hostage by ISIS terrorists,” the letter continued.

Expressing gratitude for the Trump administration’s latest announcement that humanitarian help is being rushed to southern Syria, the letter expressed urgency for extra to be finished “to stop impending disaster” as winter approaches.

The signatories urged Trump to safe al-Sharaa’s dedication to opening a safe humanitarian hall from Hader to Suwayda in southern Syria.

“This hall will allow protected and safe help supply and civilian evacuation, signaling the brand new authorities’s dedication to minority rights and stability,” they wrote.

Signatories embody Dr. Ben Carson and Eric Metaxas, each members of the White Home Spiritual Liberty Fee; former Ambassador-at-Giant for Worldwide Spiritual Freedom Sam Brownback; Household Analysis Council President Tony Perkins; Pastors Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs and Rob Pacienza; Religion & Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, and others.

Al-Sharaa’s go to marks the primary time a sitting Syrian president has visited Washington, D.C., since Syria gained independence in 1946.

A former chief of al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, al-Nusra Entrance, al-Sharaa rose to energy after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied militant teams ousted former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad final December, who fled to Russia when his regime collapsed after 25 years.

Al-Sharaa has since distanced himself from his former extremism and pursued U.S. alignment, which has led to steps that embody his removing from U.S. and United Nations terror lists in addition to Syria’s anticipated formal entry right into a U.S.-led coalition to battle a resurgent Islamic State within the area.

On Saturday, Syrian safety forces carried out nationwide preemptive raids towards suspected Islamic State operatives, detaining dozens. Officers declare to have intercepted data suggesting the brutal terrorist group, which managed massive swaths of Iraq and Syria a decade in the past, is getting ready new assaults. 

In June, dozens have been killed in a suicide bombing at a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus that occured throughout a Sunday morning service, furthering concern amongst advocates about whether or not al-Sharaa is doing sufficient to guard Christians and different minorities. 

In March, tons of of individuals have been killed in Syria’s Alawite coastal areas amid preventing between pro-Assadist militias and the federal government’s forces within the space. Not less than a dozen factions below the command of the federal government participated within the killing of civilians within the March preventing, in line with Reuters. A number of the killings concerned sheer brutality and torture, together with one man whose coronary heart was ripped out of his chest. 

The Christian inhabitants in Syria has crumbled within the final decade-plus for the reason that begin of the Syrian civil battle in 2011. Talking lately in Rome, Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs, Hama and Nabek, who heads the Syriac Catholic Church in central Syria, warned that Christianity is disappearing from Syria amid a mass Christian exodus and “disastrous political and financial scenario.”

Assist to the Church in Want estimates that Christians in Syria have plummeted from about 2.1 million in 2011 to round 540,000 in 2024.