Christian refugees who had sought shelter in monasteries and schools in the hills 30 miles east of here returned to their homes in the suburbs.
He has traveled to Iraq many times to deliver supplies to Christian refugees, document cases of anti-Christian violence, and meet with local church leaders.
France is set to host 500 Iraqi Christian refugees.
Yet most of Syria's newest Iraqi Christian refugees say the decision to leave their homeland was anything but easy.
Christian refugees have fled mostly to the nearby town of Tentena.
Lebanon gave citizenship to about 50,000 Christian Palestinian refugees during the 1950s and 1960s.
This caused a protest from Maronite authorities, leading to citizenship being given to all the Palestinian Christian refugees who were not already citizens.
The city was founded by Saint Marinus and several Christian refugees in the year 301.
Most of them are Christian refugees and people from Darfur.
The town has also received thousands of Christian refugees from other parts of the countries after recent waves of violence against them.