Syria's Christians face pull between proud past and uncertain future

Published: 2004-10-28

ALEPPO, Syria (CNS) -- Sister Antoinette Wakin grew up in Maaloula, the last Christian village in Syria where people still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus and his disciples. The young nun could be considered a living link to the earliest days of the church. But she is also its future, which explains why she works in a Catholic school in Aleppo -- teaching English, not Aramaic, to elementary students. Like Sister Wakin, a member of the Religious of Jesus and Mary, many Syrian Christians feel pulled between a proud history and an uncertain future. The history began when the apostles, most notably St. Paul, preached here. St. Paul had his conversion outside Damascus, and it was at Antioch in ancient Syria that the disciples of Christ first took the name "Christians." Syrian Christians are keenly aware of this and frequently mention that their country was Christian long before it was Muslim. But while their attachment to religious traditions remains strong, many Christians wonder how well their church communities can withstand the strains of regional instability, emigration, economic woes and cultural changes.

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