Syria’s Christian population nears extinction after 14 years of war. Vincent Gelot warns of a cultural and spiritual loss for all humanity.
Newsroom (09/02/2026 Gaudium Press ) The fate of the Christian East, cradle of the earliest witnesses to the Resurrection, now hangs in the balance. Once vibrant communities in Syria—the descendants of those who preserved the first language of faith—are vanishing under the weight of war, displacement, and economic despair. “If nothing changes, in ten or fifteen years, Syria’s Christians could disappear,” warns Vincent Gelot, regional director of L’Œuvre d’Orient, in an alarm raised to AsiaNews. Fourteen years of conflict, he notes, from 2011 to 2025, have erased nearly 80% of Syria’s Christian population—a collapse he likens to the devastation of genocide or ethnic cleansing.
A Frenchman’s Mission to Save a Civilization
Now 37, settled with his wife and four children in Lebanon, Gelot has devoted his life to preserving a culture that risks extinction. Through L’Œuvre d’Orient—a nonpolitical French Church-linked association—he coordinates over a thousand projects across Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. Hospitals, schools, dispensaries, refugee centers, and dialogue forums depend on the 18 million euros he channels annually into the region. Yet, he insists, such efforts remain “largely insufficient to support Christians in their homeland and allow them to assume their admirable vocation as a cultural and human leaven.”
Gelot’s story began with a youthful act of faith. “At 23, with just a few pennies in my pocket, I climbed into a 4L alone to discover a Christian world in danger of extinction,” he recalls. His two-year odyssey—from the Nineveh Plain to the borders of Afghanistan—became, as journalist Guyonne de Montjou wrote, “a journey of conversion.”
A Minority Abandoned
“I believe there’s something existential at stake in what’s happening in the Near and Middle East,” Gelot declares. The Christian exodus from Syria, he explains, stems not only from the economic collapse that forced millions from their homes, but also from deliberate persecution. “They were targeted by ISIS. They are a minority that has never benefited from any support, whether religious or otherwise.” Unlike other communities, Syrian Christians had no structural militias, leaving them defenseless. “They were abandoned, which explains why they left so brutally.”
Alongside Catholic organizations united in ROACO (the Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Eastern Churches)—including ACS, Misereor, and the Pontifical Mission—Gelot works to keep Christian presence alive in Syria. But the effort, he says, depends almost entirely on Western donors. “Given the gravity of what is happening, what is being done is largely insufficient. We need institutional funding from the UN, Europe, the United States, or elsewhere.”
Holy Places, Empty of Their People
“For these Christian communities to be incarnated, they must be present,” Gelot insists. The Near East is not merely geography—it is the landscape of the New Testament. From Tyre and Sidon in Lebanon, to Antioch and Damascus, to the Jordan River where Christ was baptized, every stone is sacred memory. “Yet we see the Christian communities of these regions packing up and leaving, which is unacceptable,” he says. “Isn’t it a division for these communities not to have access to their Holy Places?”
A Loss Shared by All
“The disappearance of these communities,” Gelot continues, “is not only a loss for them, but also for us Westerners, because part of our roots, our civilization, our cultural and religious origins come from here.” And it is not solely a Christian tragedy, he emphasizes. “It is also a loss for Muslims. We must help the countries of the Middle East maintain their mosaic. We do not want to lose this treasure, but to share it.”
A Call for Global Action
Through ROACO, Gelot and his colleagues are urging the Vatican to create a “World Day for Eastern Christians,” devoted to prayer, awareness, and fundraising. Their work—schools, hospitals, and humanitarian centers—serves all people, not only Christians. In Lebanon alone, around 200,000 students attend Christian schools yearly, many of them Muslim. In Tripoli’s Maronite diocese, some institutions have no Christian students at all; in Aïn Ebel, the majority are Shiite. “These schools play a fundamental role in dialogue and coexistence,” Gelot notes.
But even these vital institutions now stand on the brink of collapse. Calls for more support from the UN and European Union have met with hesitation, reflecting a Western paralysis on religious matters. “Why is the West paralyzed in the face of religious issues,” Gelot asks, “when its roots and history are also at stake?”
He calls for greater mobilization not only from governments but from the Church itself: “One Sunday a year should be dedicated to Eastern Christians—to discover them, to express solidarity, to build bridges.”
For Gelot, the warning is stark and urgent. “Something existential is at stake in the Middle East. This is not a passing crisis that can be overcome. We must mobilize now—so as not to miss this moment.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Asia News.it
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