Syria

The fall of Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria in December was viewed by the country’s minorities with a mixture of cautious optimism and apprehension. Just three months later, a wave of violence has made their worst nightmares come true.

Syria's top Christian leaders have condemned the killing and wounding of hundreds of Alawites, many of them civilians, by security forces and gunmen linked to the country's new Islamist rulers.

After Pope Francis prayed on Christmas Day for Syrian Christians facing uncertainty amid the country's regime change, the leader of the Catholic Church in neighboring Iraq said the toppling of the regime left Christians in the region feeling "tense."

A Christmas tree was reportedly set ablaze in a Christian-majority town in Syria, prompting protests in the war-torn nation just two weeks after the ouster of former President Bashar Assad and his regime.

Gunfire and shouts of jubilation echoed through the streets of Damascus, Syria’s capital, as rebel forces opposed to Bashar Assad’s government took control of the city on Dec. 7. But Christians in Syria are not ready to join the victory dance.

The head of the U.S. Catholic bishops' international justice committee is calling on nations to help Syria after the Dec. 8 fall of the Assad dictatorship in a lightning rebel offensive.