Christians in Syria are getting ready to celebrate a Christmas which on the one hand is “without changes” and on the other totally “different” from when, on 8 December, the fighters (as they are called here) overthrew the regime of Assad.

Celebrating Christmas

“In all the churches in the country we are getting ready to celebrate Christmas: we have set up the nativity scenes and the Christmas trees and we will have a triduum of preparation with the faithful,  especially through the sacrament of Penance,” says Monsignor Hanna Jallouf, a Franciscan of the Custody of the Holy Land and today the Apostolic Latin Vicar of Aleppo.

“The new rulers have invited us to celebrate our liturgies as usual. At the same time, delicacy is required in celebrating: many people amongst us and around us are in mourning, after years when a lot of blood was spilt.”

The Christmas night Mass has been brought forward to 6:00pm due to the curfew. On Christmas day, Monsignor Jallouf will celebrate a solemn Mass which will be broadcast  on TV by the channel “Syria,” once anti-regime and today a government channel.

Confidence in the future

The Vicar of Aleppo is confident for the future. It is a confidence that partly comes from his  direct knowledge of Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani, today the leader of the anti-Assad uprising and the “new face” of Syria, in the past leader of the Jihadists of al-Nuṣra, who dominated the region of Idlib during the civil war and who over the years have changed name and face.

It was precisely in the region of Idlibe that Monsignor Jallouf lived through all the years of the civil war, getting to know the worst face of the Islamic Jihad. “Before 2018, we were persecuted, we were considered in the lowest category, without human rights. They took all our property, our homes, our land.”

Then something changed: “Since 2018, when they began to think about making a State, they changed everything: they changed their attitude towards us, Christians, they gave us everything back and  they did what they had promised. This is why I say they are loyal.  If they continue along this path, there is hope.”

Monsignor Jallouf does not conceal the difficulties: the fighters include “various extremist groups. The new rulers will have the task on the one hand of promoting freedom and on the other fighting the fundamentalism and extremism of these groups.”

The Christians, an integral part of Syria

The Christians are also called to make their contribution so that the new Syria is truly a place of freedom, equality and coexistence that they dream of. One of the key points is that of full citizenship: “We are not a minority!” Monsignor Jallouf states firmly. “We have our roots in this land, we are an integral part of this land and its people. I do not accept that Christians are talked of as a ‘minority’: we are an active part of society and equal to all the others.”

Not all the bishops share this same confident vision, but all together they have met the new rulers twice. “In Aleppo I wanted to hold the meeting in our convent of St Francis,” Monsignor Jallouf says, “to send the message that the spirit of St Francis still lives in his friars.”

Fears and hopes

Fears and hopes coexist among the Christians, as in the rest of the population. “A change of this type in 48 hours is not easy. People have been used to living and thinking in a certain way for 50 years and now they are disoriented, they have many questions and fears.”

However, there are signs that allow hope: “As soon as they announced the end of compulsory military service, many youngsters who have now sought refuge abroad are beginning to pack up  to come back to Syria. This is a very good thing, including for us Christians.”

“We have about 40 families, internally displaced in Syria, who have returned to the Idlib region and got back their land and their homes. If things continue this way, it is possible that we will have a lot of people coming back from abroad.”

A complete mosaic

Born in 1952, Monsignor Jallouf spent his early youth in a Syria which had only recently gained its independence and was going through strong political turbulence. He experienced the regime of the Assads, then twelve years of civil war.

“Now I am dreaming of a free and democratic Syria, at peace, safe and welcoming, where the quality of all people is guaranteed. I see Syria as a mosaic: there are all the pieces to make a mosaic, but if you take away certain colors, the image is ruined. My dream is a complete mosaic of Syria.