(CV NEWS FEED) — Following the outbreak of violence in northwest Syria against minorities including Alawites and Christians, the Carmelite nuns in Aleppo have spoken out saying that a genocide is taking place, according to a March 11 X post from former French Prime Minister François Fillon.
“So many of you have reached out asking for news, and we’re deeply touched by your concern. The massacres unfolding on Syria’s northwest coast, in the Alawite region where the former president’s family comes from, defy words,” the nuns stated, according to a translation of the message posted March 12 on X by the account Carmelite Quotes. The original message did not include a date of publication.
The Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria collapsed in December 2024 after a coalition of predominantly Islamist militants led by the group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched an offensive to end the regime. Later that month, HTS leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani (also known as Ahmed al-Sharaa) met with Catholic and non-Catholic Christian leaders and claimed that “the new Syria will be inclusive” for Christians, according to a Vatican News article at the time.
Saint George’s Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Aleppo. Image credit: Dan from Brussels, Europe, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
