Twelve years after the disappearance of Italian Jesuit Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, the sixth-century monastery he restored in 1991 in al Nabk in western Syria sponsored a conference and liturgy to remember his legacy.
The four-day interreligious event, 26-29 July, titled, “Open Hearts: A New Hope for Syria,” gathered Christians and Muslims for a series of presentations to discuss healing after Syria’s 14-year civil war, which plunged the nation into violent chaos, destroying its economy, shattering its once vibrant and diverse communities, driving 13 million people from their homes and killing some 700,000 people.
Attendees heard testimonies of people imprisoned by the former regime and reflections on peace and reconciliation. They also remembered those who disappeared during the regime, attaching the names of the missing on the olive and fig trees in the valley surrounding the monastery, which is formally dedicated to St. Moses the Abyssinian, a fourth-century Coptic monk who the church considers a desert father.
At the end of the conference, more than 100 people gathered in the valley under a large tent for a memorial liturgy. Archbishop Julian Yacoub Mourad of the Syriac Catholic Archeparchy of Homs, Syria, who helped Father Dall’Oglio restore the monastery and cofounded its community, was the main celebrant. Cardinal Mario Zenari, apostolic nuncio to Syria, also attended.
The tent — brimming with Syrians and foreigners of all faiths, old friends and others recently drawn to Father Dall’Oglio’s legacy — was more than a shelter from the desert heat. It recalled the tent of Abraham — open on all sides, welcoming all, embodying the spirit that animated Father Dall’Oglio as a founder of the current Syriac Catholic monastic community in al Nabk, dedicated to prayer and interreligious dialogue.
The liturgy was the first opportunity for many to honor the priest’s life. One pilgrim, Daniel, 20, from New Jersey, came for the occasion after having spent his Easter holiday at the monastery. After the event, he embarked on a volunteer mission with Relief and Reconciliation, a nonprofit organization operating in Syria and Lebanon that combines peacebuilding with humanitarian aid.
“Father Paolo provided me with what I was looking for as a young man, a way to understand the Middle East through the lens of interfaith dialogue,” he said.
A young Muslim woman from Qamishli, Syria, who sought refuge during the war in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, and requested anonymity, was also among those gathered. She decided to attend after learning about Father Dall’Oglio’s legacy as a lover of both Christians and Muslims at Deir Maryam al Adhra monastery (Monastery of the Virgin Mary), which was founded in 2012 in Sulaymaniyah as a daughter house of Mar Musa.
“I never met him, but his work restored my faith in religious people as agents for peace,” she said. “And that is what brought me here today.”
Father Dall’Oglio’s vision for Mar Musa was for it to serve as “a light that can be seen from afar, a stop along the way, a station of pilgrimage,” a spiritual home for all people — Muslims and Christians, seekers and skeptics alike.
29 July 2013, remains an open wound for the community. On that day, Father Dall’Oglio entered Raqqa, a city in northeastern Syria, then overshadowed by violence and uncertainty. He went seeking dialogue with Islamic State militants to secure the release of hostages, plead for mercy and plant seeds of peace.
The priest insisted on going to Raqqa despite warnings from close friends against it. He left, telling them: “If I am not back after three days, ‘khalas’ (it is finished).”
He was last seen alive entering a building controlled by armed Islamist militants. His fate remains unknown.
Father Mourad Abou Seif, S.J., the superior of the Society of Jesus in Syria, noted the “work of finding [Father Dall’Oglio] has not yet been completed.”
“We were hoping to have an answer by now,” his family said in a statement that was read at the liturgy.
Father Jihad Youssef, who serves as abbot of Mar Musa and is a prominent voice of the Christian community in Syria, spoke to those gathered about the recent “massacres that took place,” targeting religious minorities across the country, describing the acts as “a disgrace to us all.”
In March, government and affiliated forces confronted a counterinsurgency led by Assad loyalists in the Alawite-majority coastal region. At least 1,217 people were killed, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
In June, an armed man rushed into the Greek Orthodox Church of Mar Elias in Damascus, opening fire on congregants during the Divine Liturgy and detonating an explosive device. At least 25 worshipers were killed, and more than 60 were wounded in the deadliest attack against Christians in Syria in recent years. Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, a little-known Sunni Muslim group, claimed responsibility.
In the southern Druze-majority region of Sweida, at least 426 people have been killed in ongoing clashes between local factions and Bedouin armed men, clashes that included Syrian government and Israeli military interventions, widening the conflict.
Father Youssef urged Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, to “be courageous and trust all Syrians, so that all Syrians will trust you.”
“We [the monastic community], for our part, have decided to grant you a loan of confidence, because the only other option is withdrawal and discontent,” he said.
He vowed to continue Father Dall’Oglio’s mission.
“Father Paolo prayed, worked and wrote, so that Syria […] would become a garden of harmony among cultures, ethnicities and religions, and an oasis of peace where human rights, including freedom of political opinion, freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, are respected,” he said.
In his remarks, Cardinal Zenari recalled how Father Dall’Oglio “loved Syria as his only homeland and risked his life for Syria.”
“We all see how terrible this crossroads is,” he added. “Syria can become the good, beautiful country we want or not. It depends on the Syrians, first and foremost.
“Among them are the Christians, who have been in Syria for 2,000 years. The question for many now is whether to leave or stay.”
He said Father Dall’Oglio remains an example for all Syrian Christians, whom he urged to stay to help rebuild their homeland.