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Religious Freedom in the Majority Islamic Countries 1998 Report

Syria Population: 15,009,000 Religion: Islam 86% Christians 9%; Druze 3% Catholics: 131,700 Apostolic vicariate of Aleppo of the Latins - 9,500; Armenians: Patriarchate of Cilicia of the Armenians (Damascus) - 3,200; Greek Melkites - 105,000; Syrians - 6,000; Maronites - 8,000   Islam is the source of the national law, according to the Constitution of 1973, which guarantees the recognition of other religions and the liberty of faith and worship. The Baath National Socialist Party, which has governed Syria since 1963, acts ruthlessly against the opposition and the minorities, whether they belong to the Islamic majority or the non-Islamic minorities. For the latter, the choice between the present regime and a possible alternative fundamentalist Muslim regime is a difficult one in regard to the problem of religious liberty, even though the Islamic Front, created in 1980 to unite the Islamic Liberation Party and the Jama’at Abu Dharr, has published a manifesto and a programme in which it proposes a tolerant Islamic state. In any case the opposition in the country seems to have largely fallen silent. The Christian communities enjoy complete liberty to build places of worship or conduct religious activities, often obtaining construction materials from the state. The priests are exempt from military and civil service, and there are no obstacles to their incardination in the dioceses. There are however problems with regard to the censorship of the religious press - although this censorship also affects the Muslims - and for the Christian confessional schools, which were nationalised in 1967. Christmas and Easter are considered official feasts and the media broadcast Christian religious celebrations.