DAMASCUS (Reuters) -Syrian Christians were struggling on Monday to understand why their community was targeted in a suicide attack and whether they can rely on the Islamist-led government's assurances of protection.

"There is no justification -- religious, moral, or rational -- for the slaughter of innocents, least of all in a sacred space."

A suicide bomber has killed at least 25 people and injured 63 of the 350 congregants after opening fire and then self-detonating at a Greek Orthodox church in Syria on Sunday.