THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Good Friday and other Easter processions and festivals have been cancelled across Syria as street unrest boils over into violence.
The country's Christian population has been forced to abandon its usually colourful and exuberant commemorations because of the number of "martyrs" who have died and the "bad situation", a senior church official told The Daily Telegraph.
The whole country is braced for a wave of protests on Friday, despite an announcement that President Bashir al-Assad had signed a decree lifting the 48-year state of emergency, a key demand.
Government promises of reform combined with violence by armed plain-clothes security forces have only served to bolster the opposition, who are planning more demonstrations after regular Muslim Friday prayers.
But today these will clash with Good Friday services, which would normally see processions and public gatherings by Syria's Christian minority, estimated at between 1-2 million, or around five per cent of the population.
"We are not receiving official congratulations," Bishop Philoxenos Mattias, Assistant to the Syriac Orthodox Church Patriarchate in Damascus, the country's biggest Christian denomination, said.
"All of the Syrian churches have decided this together because of the bad situation and because of the martyrs who have died in recent days, out of respect for them." » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Thursday, April 21, 2011
TERRASANTA: (Milan) – This year there will be no processions or public events of Christian festivities and identity. The very tense situation in Syria has compelled the Christian (Orthodox and Catholic) Patriarchs to forgo the exuberance and joy that have always accompanied Easter celebrations in Damascus, Aleppo and the other cities where the Christian minorities live. The decision has been taken due to “the present circumstances in the country” and to “honour the souls of the martyrs and innocent victims of the recent sad events.”. » | Lucia Balestrieri | Thursday, April 21, 2011
