Leader of the Greek Catholic Church confined to remark on the refusal of the Maronite patriarch Nasrullah Butrous Sfeir to visit Syria to welcome the Pope.

Syria, Religion, 5/15/2001

State Department spokesman says that Assad's statement including that Jews betrayed Jesus,were regrettable .

The Associated Press ,9th May,2001

The so-called "Holy Land" is ever less Christian as the region's dwindling number of followers of Jesus Christ stage a mass exodus to the West.

Independent, By Robert Fisk in Beirut, 06 May 2001

Its heritage includes numerous monasteries and churches. Remains of a fifth-century Byzantine church discovered in southern Syria -a country that witnessed the spread of Christianity
independent online April 14 2001

Pope John Paul II is expected to be the first pope to enter a mosque when he visits Syria in May.A joint Christian-Muslim prayer is planned afterwards outside the mosque
CNN, March 6, 2001