An employee sits at the information desk of the Catholic Patriarchate in the Christian quarter of Damascus September 6, 2012. Syria's Christians, who make up less than 10 percent of the 23 million population, include Greek Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox, Maronite and Melkite Greek Catholic faithful. Already thousands have left, part of a larger tide of displaced Syrians escaping the conflict in which opposition groups say 27,000 people have died. In the background are pictures of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Gregorius Lahham, the Greek Melkite Patriarch of Antioch. Picture taken September 6, 2012. To match story POPE-LEBANON/SYRIA REUTERS /Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION)