Syrian Catholic Church, Damascus

The Syriac Catholic Church is a Christian church in the Levant having practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. They are one of the Eastern Catholic Churches following the Antiochene rite, the Syriac tradition of Antioch, along with the Maronites and Syro-Malankara Christians. This is distinct from the Greek Byzantine rite of Antioch of the Melkites, both Orthodox and Catholic. They have a separate church organization from the Melkites, Maronites, and Chaldean Catholics, which are other communities of the Levant also in full communion with Rome. The Patriarch of Antioch of this church has the title of Patriarch of Antioch and all the East of the Syrians and resides in Beirut, Lebanon.

On 31 October 2010, 58 Iraqi Syriac Catholics were killed by Muslim extremists while attending Sunday Mass, 78 others were wounded. The attack by Muslim terrorists on the congregation of Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic Church was the bloodiest single attack on an Iraqi Christian church in recent history.