Damascus churches cancel Palm Sunday processions after clash in Christian town

2026-03-28 - 19:04

Damascus churches cancelled Palm Sunday celebrations following violence in a Christian-majority town, a church official said Saturday. Fighting broke out on Friday evening between residents of Suqaylabiyah and armed men from neighbouring villages who stormed the central Syrian town, according to residents and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. “We have made a collective decision in all the churches of Damascus to stop all the celebrations scheduled for tomorrow, Sunday, not out of fear, but in solidarity with our people in the city of Suqaylabiyah,” Raafat Abu al-Nasr, the general coordinator of the Melkite Greek Catholic Youth, told AFP over the phone. The decision came months after a suicide bombing targeted a church in Damascus in June, killing 25 people. AFP